Mayo basks, warm weather to last for weekend

Warm weather to last for weekend


Anton McNulty
antonmcnulty@mayonews.ie

The beach was the only place to be over the weekend as the temperatures rose close to 30 degree Celsuis, and the good news is that the good weather is expected to continue over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Mayo was one of the hottest places in Europe over the weekend as the mini-heatwave brought Mediterranean-type temperatures to the west of Ireland. Hundreds of people flocked to the county’s many beaches with temperatures reaching as high as 27 degree Celsius in many parts of the county.
Newport was officially the hottest place in the county over the weekend with the mercury reaching 26.8 degrees Celsius on Friday with Belmullet a close second with the temperature reaching 26.1 degrees Celsius. The average temperature for Belmullet in May 2011 was 11.6 degrees Celsius while the average for May is 10.3.
West Mayo was generally warmer than the east of the county with temperatures in the Met Éireann stations at Knock Airport and Claremorris close to a degree cooler than in Newport or Belmullet.
While temperatures for the rest of the week are not expected to reach the heights of the weekend, initial weather forecasts suggest there will not be a severe break in the weather with conditions to remain dry.
The Met Éireann weather forecast for Mayo predicts that the temperatures are to remain in the high teens for the next three days. While light showers are also predicted it is expected to remain mostly dry for the week.
The long range weather forecast for the Bank Holiday weekend is for mostly dry sunny spells with temperatures ranging from the mid teens to the low twenties.
Meanwhile Mayo County Council have confirmed that lifeguards will be on duty at many of the county’s most popular bathing areas from this weekend. There was criticism from some quarters about the absence of lifeguards on the county’s beaches over the weekend.
Michael Gavin, the Water Safety Officer with Mayo County Council told The Mayo News that no lifeguards are on duty before the June Bank Holiday in accordance with the bathing season directives.

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