Another scorcher! Ireland saw its highest temperature in three years on Friday

Ireland's warm weather continued on Friday, June 20, when temperatures reached a high not seen in the country since August 2022.

Met Éireann, the Irish national meteorological service, said on Friday that a temperature of 29.6°C (85.28°F) had been recorded in Mount Dillon, Co Roscommon.

This narrowly beat Thursday's high temperature, also recorded in Mount Dillon, of 27.0°C (80.6°F).

Friday was Ireland's hottest day of the year so far, as well as Ireland's highest temperature since August 2022 and the highest June temperature since 2018.

While nice and toasty, Friday's high temperature of 29.6°C is still a good bit under the highest temperature ever recorded in Ireland, which was 33.3°C (91.94°C) in Kilkenny in 1887.

Several other locations in Ireland also recorded temperatures above 28.0°C on Friday, just narrowly falling behind the day's high recorded in Mount Dillon.

"Indeed, a lot of stations today got over around 25 degrees, especially in the northwest, seeing a lion's share of those very warm temperatures," Met Éireann's Mark Bowe said on Friday evening while delivering the national forecast for the weekend.

"So why the good weather? 

"Well, basically, it's because we've got high pressure to our east and we've got an area of low pressure to our west. And this essentially just opens up an uninterrupted stream of very warm air to drift over us from Europe, giving us those continental temperatures."

The big question, of course, is - is it going to last? 

"Well, let's not kid ourselves, of course it isn't," Bowe said.

"That area of high pressure will move away, allowing the low to move over us tomorrow on Saturday. That'll bring a good scattering of showers - there's still some sunshine in there - with highs in the mid-20s. 

"But, by Sunday, the low will drag in more showers, and, more importantly, some cooler air is sending our temperatures back down to the mid-teens."

Bowe said that from next week, there will be some "unsettled weather" for Ireland, and that the "good weather does go away on Sunday."