Northern Ireland set to be warmer today than parts of Spain and Greece

Temperatures are expected “well above average”, with the Met Office forecasting 16 degrees Celsius (61 degrees Fahrenheit) in places, which is more like the sort of maximum warmth you would get in an average day in the province in June.

Much of NI may be hotter than Barcelona in Spain and Athens in Greece, where highs of 15C and 12C are forecast respectively. The warmest places in Northern Ireland are expected to be in the west, such as Castlederg in Tyrone and St Angelo in Fermanagh, at up to 16C, with most places rising to 14C or 15C.

The expected rise in temperatures coincides with the spring equinox which, while it is the first day of astronomical spring, comes three weeks after the first day of meteorological spring on March 1.

In the south of England, the mercury is set to rise even further, maybe to 20C (68F), which is on a par with parts of southern Europe. While almost the entire British Isles was sunny yesterday (Wednesday), much of the western Mediterranean was cloudy.

Wednesday saw sunshine across Northern Ireland, with almost 11 hours in Katesbridge on Co Down, a remarkable tally amounting to almost nonstop sunshine out of a maximum possible of 12 hours, which is the amount of daylight at this time of year. The sunniest place in the entire UK, Aberdaron in Wales, got 11.3 hours.

The warmest place in Northern Ireland was Derrylin Cornahoule in Co Fermanagh at 14.4 °C. There was barely any rain anywhere. But the cloudless skies have meant cold nights, including a low of minus 5 C in Castlederg overnight on Tuesday into Wednesday.

Northern Ireland has had significant daily sunshine levels now for 10 days, since Tuesday March 11, with more sunshine than cloud cover almost every day apart from Monday, St Patrick’s Day, which was more grey than sunny. On four consecutive days, Thursday March 13 to Sunday March 16, NI had the warmest temperature of anywhere in the UK, albeit only reaching relatively chilly levels of not much more than 10C.

The long spell of fine weather, which is due to begin to crumble tomorrow (Friday), leading to a much cooler weekend, comes after a February which saw some of the longest grey spells on record in NI, of 11 consecutive days at one point in the month.

Wednesday’s highest recorded temperature in the UK was 18.7C in Northolt, west London.

Meteorological spring always starts on March 1 while astronomical spring, or the equinox, begins around March 20 each year. The other equinox is in September and both mark the sun crossing the equator, rather than being at an angle. Day and night are therefore about the same length.

Northern Ireland, being further north than most of Britain and Ireland, has particularly long June days (of up to 17 hours of daylight) and particularly short December ones (of up to 17 hours of night).

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said about today: “The highest temperatures are expected in an area from London, the home counties to southern Midlands. Here we are likely to see 19C or 20C widely with one or two spots likely to reach 21C.”

The highest recorded UK spring equinox temperature was 21.5C in 1972, and Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon said 2025’s highest temperature is unlikely to top that. This year has so far peaked at 19.7C in Crosby, Merseyside, on March 9.

Wetter weather will move in on Friday and the weekend will be more unsettled. Mr Dixon said: “Tomorrow’s weather – it’s going to be a widely dry, fine and sunny day for many, with temperatures well above average at the time of year. “Temperatures are going to peak on the Thursday and they’ll decline into the weekend, heading closer towards average but still relatively warm for this time of year.”

Higher pressure to the east of the UK is currently helping to draw warmer air north across the country, he said.

The sunshine will be only broken by some fair-weather cloud in central parts of England on Thursday, he said.

Friday will remain warm for many but some rain is expected to move in from the south west.

Showers are forecast to start in Cornwall and gradually travel north-east during that day into parts of Wales and central and southern England.

Rain is then expected for much of the country through the weekend, and Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Steven Keates said: “This heralds the move to something more unsettled for the UK’s weather on Saturday, with more rain or showers developing for much of England, Wales and Northern Ireland through the day, and some heavier bursts likely in places.

“Western parts of Scotland are also likely to see rain on Saturday, with this gradually moving eastwards across the rest of Scotland through the weekend.

“Unsettled weather, with occasional rain or showers for many, will continue on Sunday, with plenty of cloud around as well.”