Saturday is set to be one of the warmest days of 2020 to date across Ireland with temperatures set to rise into the low 20s in places. The warmest parts across Ireland on Saturday will be the midlands, south and west where temperatures will range between 18C to 23C.

The warmest temperature on Saturday looks as it could be recorded across the southwest of Ireland possibly around county Clare where temperatures could rise to 23C. If the latest data is correct then expect that temperature to be recorded at Shannon Airport.

Thursday afternoon showers will push west to east across parts of Ireland with the risk of these becoming very heavy at times especially across Ulster, Connacht and Munster there will be the risk of thunderstorms over the afternoon with sudden heavy falls of rain with some hail also possible.

Some of these convective showers could turn into thunderstorms as the push eastwards over Ireland. Below these showers can be seen on the charts.

Early Saturday afternoon the highest risk will be across Ulster then around mid afternoon there will be a very high risk of thunderstorms across parts of Connacht and especially across Munster where there will be a up to 600j/kg to 700j/kg of CAPE

Across Ulster and Connacht there will be between 200j/kg to 400j/kg of CAPE

WHAT IS CAPE

CAPE - Convective available potential energy

The greater the CAPE value at a given location, the greater the odds are of convective weather, like thunderstorms or tornadoes, developing at that location. CAPE is a useful tool for forecasting severe weather conditions.

Turning much colder on Sunday and early next with below average temperatures and frosty night with cold Arctic air. I will have more on this later.