The warm weather has been fantastic, says local business as blue skies are set to turn grey this weekend
Northern Ireland enjoyed another day of sunshine as the province once again saw temperatures rise over 20 °C.
Whilst the weather didn't eclipse yesterday's record of 21.8 °C in Castlederg, the mercury was still high enough for people to start their weekends with glorious weather.
The blue skies have been almost ever-present across Northern Ireland for three weeks as we have enjoyed a premature taste of summer.
The top five recorded hot spots in Northern Ireland on Friday were as follows:
- Castlederg, Co. Tyrone, 21.7 °C
- Armagh, 21.3 °C
- Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh, 21.2 °C
- Banagher, Co. Londonderry 20.9°C
- Helen's Bay, Co. Down, 20.6 °C
The News Letter tried its best to speak to ice cream parlours across the province from the north coast to Bangor and even in Newcastle on Friday - but more often than not - we were told they were too busy or the call wasn't answered.
However, we eventually caught up with family-run business Mauds Ice Cream in Ballycastle, who have been inundated with customers.
"It’s been really busy here which is obviously fantastic,” said Sean McMullan, who helps run the premises.
"After winter and things being quiet...it’s always great to get going again.
"The sun always seems to make people get out and be more happy...so it’s been a fantastic few weeks.
"The town has been swamped with people and we are at the perfect location along the sea front, so it’s been great to see people enjoy themselves and enjoy the good weather."
However, Marco Petagna, meteorologist at the Met Office, put a dampener on the magic spell as rain is forecasted for Northern Ireland this weekend.
"It is going to turn more unsettled for Northern Ireland this weekend,” he explained.
"There’s going to be some local frost first thing Saturday morning but that will clear and there will be a bright start to the day.
"The cloud will then increase and it’ll lead to showers breaking from the afternoon into the early evening.
"It will still be 15 or 16°C which is above average for this time of the year.
"Sunday will see showers come from the west but I don’t think it will be a complete write-off. I would imagine you will see more persistent rain early next week.”