Ireland weather: last blast of heat before temperatures drop 16C

What the Ireland weather forecast says for the weekend and next week

Where you are will make a big difference on Friday.

Alan O’Reilly of Carlow Weather said the southeast will see the best of the warmth, with Wexford and Waterford the hottest counties, while it will stay below 20C further west and some areas will struggle to reach 17C.

Oak Park in Carlow recorded 19.8C at 6am, just 0.2C short of a tropical night.

Carlow Weather's Alan O’Reilly announced: "A warm night last night with Oak Park in Carlow reporting 19.8c at 6am, just 0.2c off a tropical night.

"Some cloud around this morning but generally dry with just odd patch of drizzle. Not as warm today but still up to 25c in parts of Southeast, below 20c further West."

Saturday will bring sunny spells with highest temperatures of 15C to 23C, coolest in the west and northwest and warmest in Leinster, before outbreaks of rain and drizzle on Sunday.

Met Éireann says Monday will be warm for most but with "persistent" rain in places, with further scattered showers and drizzle on Tuesday and Wednesday.

High pressure is losing its grip as a more mobile Atlantic regime takes over, leaving next week far more changeable, the Irish Independent reports.

Anyone who followed the August bank holiday forecast will recognise the pattern, and it points towards an unsettled second half of August.