A maximum of 15.9C at 14.48 on Friday made it the warmest day since 15th March, in that very warm spell, being 1.8C above my 40-year average. It was a breezy day thanks to the approaching Storm Kathleen. The southwesterly breeze, gusting to 29mph at its peak, brought the very warm air that saw the thermometer overnight drop no lower than 12.3C at 00.10, which was a significant 8.6C above my 40-year average. Another 1.1mm of rainfall was recorded.
Saturday started bright with intermittent sunny spells after 08.00 that saw the thermometer read 14.2C at 08.00. The soil temperature at a depth of 5cm had risen to 11.7C at 08.00.
Storm Kathleen will bring strong winds today, possibly up to 40mph, but it will only be a glancing blow as the centre is tracking northwards up the west coast of Ireland. The centre pressure forecast for midday is an exceptionally low-pressure of 955mb. The reading here at 08.00 was 998.5mb.
