Northern Ireland records the top four temperatures across the UK in the warmest day of the year so far
Northern Ireland enjoyed plenty of sunshine on Wednesday as the province recorded the top four temperatures across the UK.
In what was Northern Ireland’s warmest day of the year, the highest recording was 21.2°C in Castlederg, County Tyrone.
In second was Thomastown, County Fermanagh, with a reading of 20.6°C.
Up next in third was a 19.9°C recording in Derrylin, County Fermanagh, with the City of Armagh completing the top four with 19.7°C.
The fifth highest temperature – 19.2°C in Portglenone, County Antrim, was tied with the UK’s next highest at Achnagart in the Scottish Highlands.
The good news in the short-term is that the weather is here to stay on Thursday and Friday as Jonathan Vautrey, operational meteorologist at the Met Office, explained: “Thursday is set to be another lovely day in Northern Ireland.
"There is set to be wall-to-wall sunshine and blue skies across the province. It will be a chilly start first thing in the morning and there might be a bit of rural frost, but that’ll quickly disperse.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the warmest day of the year is recorded on Thursday.
"On Friday, it is forecasted for clouds to drift in a bit more, and whilst rain is forecasted for the north-west of Scotland, Northern Ireland will likely not see any due to high pressure.
"It is anticipated that it will be another pleasant day but the temperatures probably won’t be as high as Wednesday or Thursday.
"It is worth noting that the average temperature for this time of year in Northern Ireland is 12°C.
However, Mr Vautrey has encouraged everyone to make the most of the weather through the working week as the forecast for Saturday and Sunday is looking less appealing.
"The weather is set to be changeable,” he added.
"I would expect to showers and longer periods of rain, especially on Sunday and I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of some thunder heading into the start of next.
"The weekend in general is going to turn more unsettled and more cooler for sure.
"I’d recommend that everyone enjoys the sunshine and warm temperatures over the next two days whilst it’s here.”