The final full day of Ireland's current heatwave is set to bring temperatures close to 30 degrees once more, along with thunderstorms later in the day.
A status orange warning for high temperatures exceeding 30 degrees will run out for Cavan, Monaghan, south Leitrim, Roscommon, Longford, Westmeath at 9am this morning.
A status yellow warning for temperatures between 27 and 30 degrees, in place for the whole of the country, will meanwhile remain in place until 9am tomorrow after it was extended.
Met Éireann said Friday will be another hot day filled with sunshine, with highest temperatures generally reaching the predicted 27 to 30 degrees.
However, it will be slightly cooler in east Leinster and south Munster with highs of 24 to 26 degrees due to a moderate easterly breeze.
Another very warm or hot day with sunny spells
Most of the country will stay dry but there is the possibility of a few thunderstorms breaking out during the afternoon & evening
Highs generally of 27 to 30 C
Slightly cooler in east Leinster & south Munster with highs of 24 to 26 C pic.twitter.com/3ckHklZvGO— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) July 23, 2021
Most of the country will stay dry but it is likely a few thunderstorms will break out over southern, central and western counties during the afternoon and evening.
A dry night will then again bring humid and warm conditions, with temperatures not falling below 15 to 17 degrees.
Although the weekend will remain warm, temperatures will reduce to highs between 23 and 26 degrees on Saturday.
On Thursday, the temperature soared above 30 degrees for the second consecutive day, with the highest temperature in the Republic on Thursday recorded at 30.7 degrees at Mount Dillon in Co Roscommon.
Maximum air temperatures today 22-07-2021 at our 25 synoptic weather stations ranged from 30.7°C at Mount Dillon to 23.2°C at Johnstown Castle🌡️📈
View today's full weather reports from our synoptic weather stations on our Current Observations page. https://t.co/MvCx72KIaT pic.twitter.com/7oNG4056FX— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) July 22, 2021
Met Éireann also said that Wednesday night was provisionally the first tropical night in Ireland for 20 years, with Valentia in Co Kerry not observing any temperature under 20.5 degrees.
Tropical nights, meaning shaded air remains above 20 degrees all night, are rare in Ireland, having previously only been recorded six times.
Met Éireann meteorologist Aoife Kealy said: “It looks like the high pressure that has brought us this hot and settled weather will gradually break down through the weekend and we’ll lose the very high temperatures.
“It’ll still be warm though, with temperatures into the low to mid 20s Celsius across the country on Saturday and Sunday.”
An Orange Forest Fire Warning issued by the Department of Agriculture due to the hot and dry conditions is also due to expire at 12pm on Friday.
