Heavy showers and thunder are set to batter most of the country, just a week after we were basking in the sun.

The famous ‘exam weather’ came a week early, with the country enjoying sunny spells and temperatures soaring to the high 20s in some parts.

However, the rain came back with a vengeance over the weekend, with people bringing umbrellas out in the sunshine for one hour, only to wander out in the pouring rain wearing t-shirts and shorts.

Looking to the weather for the rest of the week, Met Éireann has said that the country is set to be battered by ‘unseasonably strong winds’ as well as heavy showers, some of which are expected to turn thundery.

The southwest region is set to be worst hit by the heavy wind and rain, with gusts of up to 80km/h expected according to Cathal Nolan of the Weather Channel.

‘We’ll see unseasonably strong winds in parts of the southern half of the country, the southwest in particular, gusting up to 80kmph in coastal areas here,’ he wrote on social media. ‘Wednesday is going to be dominated by very showery conditions once again.’

Mr Nolan added that there is a high risk of ‘heavy thundery downpours, a risk of localised thunderstorms, the possibility of some hail and a little bit of localised flooding in one or two places.’

Looking to the weather for the rest of the week, Met Éireann said that Wednesday (June 3) will see the rain continue to clear northeastwards in the morning, followed by frequent showers for the rest of the day.

Some of the showers will be heavy, and thunderstorms are likely, with a chance of hail. Highest temperatures of 13C to 17C. It will be cloudy again on Wednesday night, with further showers or longer spells of rain. Lowest temperatures of 9C to 11C.

Thursday will be cool and blustery with widespread showers, merging into longer spells of rain at times. The showers will become less frequent later in the day, and more that will be in the way of sunny spells will develop. Highest temperatures of 12C to 16C.

Thursday night will see clear spells and scattered showers, mainly over the western half of the country. It will be cool, too, with lowest temperatures of 5C to 9C.

Friday will see a mix of well-scattered showers and sunny spells at first, before cloud builds from the southwest through the afternoon with rain following and spreading over much of the south and west. Highest temperatures of 13C to 16C.

The rain will spread to most of the country overnight, with lowest temperatures of 9C to 11C.

Looking to the rest of the week and into the weekend, Met Éireann has warned that conditions will be unsettled with rain or showers each day, alongside breezy conditions at times and cooler temperatures.