Hopes for the hottest day of the year again to be reached today in Northern Ireland - but rain and thunder due tomorrow

​Yesterday, however, the clouds largely disappeared across Northern Ireland, and sunshine blasted down across the province.

At the Springsteen gig, the 40,000-large audience at Boucher Playing Fields watched the American rock superstar in bright and mild conditions, kicking off the season of outdoor concerts.

It helped set the scene for a fabulous atmosphere at an event in which the 74-year-old singer managed to find the stamina to perform on stage for three hours, from 730pm to 1030pm – the last half hour made up of encores as the fans demanded more of his famous tracks. His last comments to the crowd were that his mother-in-law was from Belfast, prompting cheers of delight.

He put in a spirited performance amid fine weather before what may be Belfast’s biggest gig audience of 2024 – some of whom were said to have been queueing since Wednesday morning to get a prime spot.Nigel Quinn from Drumbeg, Co Down was happy to queue in the sunshine to get into ‘the pit’“I was here about lunchtime,” he said.

Then from early morning yesterday it was the finest day’s weather of the year, with blue skies everywhere until darkness began to gather after 9.15pm.

Friday also enjoyed the hottest temperature so far of 2024: Eglinton Airport in Co Londonderry, where the mercury touched a Mediterranean 24 degrees Celsius (75 Fahrenheit), which was the sort of temperature being experienced on the beaches of Nice in southern France.

Today is expected to be mostly fine across NI from sunrise shortly after 5am, later reaching perhaps even hotter levels than yesterday. Crowds heading to the NW 200 (see opposite) are being advised to apply sun cream.

But the fine weather is set to break tomorrow, with showers and even thundery weather in places. That will usher the way into a cooler and changeable coming week, amid a spell of nearby low pressure that brings a mixture of sun, cloud and rain.

• Picture of the Day, page 10