The mercury climbed to a balmy 18C today as people here basked in the glorious spring sunshine - hotter than Madrid, Munich and Venice.
Tens of thousands of people travelled to beaches, parks and lakes across the country to unwind and enjoy the Mediterranean-like conditions.
Sun-worshippers were eager to make the most of the fine spell as the end is unfortunately in sight with temperatures set to plummet to -3C later next week.
Read More: Met Eireann forecasts dramatic change as 'winter 2.0' on the way with -3C cold snap
The mercury ranged from 13C to 18C today with the best sunshine along the west coast with cooler conditions along the east and south coast.
Paul Downes of Met Eireann said: “The hottest temperature is 18.2C in Mount Dillon in Co Roscommon so quite nice there and it’s 18C in Newport Furnace in Co Mayo.
“Belmullet got to 18C at 12-noon and most areas had a nice warm day.
“The temperatures are quite a bit above average for this time of year.”
Mr Downes added: “The east coast and the south coast were a little bit cooler because there was an on-shore breeze there so that kept the temperatures down a bit.”
The hottest day of the year was on Friday, when temperatures soared to 18.8C in Mount Dillon, Co Roscommon.
Met Eireann has predicted the warm conditions will continue on Monday when highs of 18C are expected again.
The forecaster said: “It’ll be similar sort of temperatures, 13C to 17C generally but you might get an 18C in there somewhere.
“The western half of the country will most likely have the better temperatures again on Monday.
“But there is a chance of a thundery showery in the south Midlands region on Monday evening and there is a slight chance of a thunderstorm.”
Mr Downes also warned temperatures will dip to below freezing during the week, with Thursday night set to be particularly chilly with lows of -3C.
He added: “I’m sure [later this] week temperatures are going to go back a little bit below average so there’s a big change on the way.
“There will be a little bit more scattered showers on Tuesday and it’ll feel a little colder overall.
“Temperatures too will drop down to 10C to 15C, so it’ll definitely come back closer to average there.”
“It’ll be a mostly cloudy day on Wednesday with showery outbreaks of rain in the morning and more persistent rain during the afternoon.
“Temperatures will range from 5C to 8C in Ulster but they will be 9C to 13C elsewhere.”
“The north and east are most at-risk of getting rain on Wednesday but anywhere could get a bit.
Mr Downes, who spoke about how temperatures are set to plummet on Thursday night, concluded: “It’ll be cold with temperatures of 5C to 8C during the day but it’ll be more of what we’d expect this time of year.
“Thursday night will be possibly -2C and maybe -3C locally for a short period of time and there will be sleet in high areas.”
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