Met Éireann has some pretty good news for us ahead of the long weekend

Counting down the hours until the long weekend?

Us too - and we've been praying for some decent weather. Thankfully it's looking pretty good if Met Éireann's latest predictions are anything to go by. The forecaster reckons that we can expect nice conditions from Friday onwards thanks to a bout of high pressure. Though temperatures will be slightly lower than average for the time of year, we can expect it to be dry with lots of sunshine and little to no wind, making it feel warmer than usual.

"Friday will be mainly dry as high pressure becomes established over the country," Met Éireann has said. "It'll be sunny with light to moderate northerly winds and temperatures will reach between nine degrees in the north and 13 degrees in the south. "The bank holiday weekend looks like staying dry throughout as anticyclonic conditions prevail. Temperatures will be a little lower than usual for the time of year but will recover to near normal by the end of the weekend. "There will, however, be little or no wind and plenty of sunshine so will feel pleasant despite the slightly lower temperatures - typically between 9 and 12 or 13 degrees from north to south. "The winds, light northerly on Saturday, becoming variable by Saturday night."

We'll take it. Conditions aren't looking as good for today and tomorrow - showers are expected to start in the west and spread eastwards over the day, though temperatures could hit between 12 and 15 degrees. Tomorrow will be similar, the forecaster has said. Showers are predicted to give way to longer spells of rain in the west and southwest, though they'll break up elsewhere.