Dark clouds are to descend over the greens of Royal Portrush Golf Club in Co Antrim today, threatening the smooth running of The Open golf championship.
More than 275,000 people are expected to brave the weather throughout the week and flock to Portrush to watch the oldest golf tournament in the world.
The UK Met Office has issued yellow rain warnings for five counties in Ulster, with the possibility of thunderstorms between 11am and 8pm on Thursday, July 17th, causing possible flooding and other disruptions throughout the North.
Cloudy conditions are forecast for the rest of Ireland as downpours of heavy rain move from west to east throughout the day, although temperatures will hover around the low 20s, according to Met Éireann.
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Rain will gradually clear in the late morning for Connacht and Munster, allowing spells of sunshine to break through. However, clouds will return later in the day. Leinster will see an echo of these conditions on Friday.
Highest temperatures are expected to range from 18 to 23 degrees in “fresh southerly winds”, Met Éireann said.
Light showers are expected across the country on Thursday night, bringing a cloudy start to Friday, with sunshine peeping through when clouds briefly subside.
Saturday is predicted to be generally dry with few scattered showers in the morning. Rain conditions are expected to worsen over the day, “turning heavy and possibly thundery at times”, according to Met Éireann.
The solar UV index, which measures the strength of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation and its potential to cause harm to skin and eyes, will be moderate to high across Thursday and Friday, the forecaster said.
This weekend is forecast to be noticeably cooler than last weekend. Highest temperatures of 17 to 21 degrees are expected on Saturday and Sunday.
