Mild and sunny: Perfect picnic weather for St Patrick’s Day

The sun is forecast to shine on St Patrick's Day. Photo: Niall Carsons/PA Wire

Laura Lynott

We could be in for a mild and sunny St Patrick’s Day but the weather remains a little unpredictable for the week ahead.

Wednesday’s forecast could just provide the perfect family picnic weather to mark March 17.

Met Éireann is forecasting “good spells of sunshine…variable breezes and afternoon temperatures of 12 to 16C” for Wednesday.

But the rest of the week is certainly more up and down, as spring showers and fluctuating temperatures dominate.

Today will be mostly cloudy, with patchy rain and mist with some hill and coastal fog.

However, it will be mild, with the mercury rising to between 10 and 15C.

Tuesday will be cloudy again, with patchy outbreaks of rain or drizzle across most of Ireland.

But dry and sunny conditions will prevail by the afternoon, with temperatures rising from 11 to 16C.

By Thursday, the west of the country will experience yet more drizzle but this will be followed by dry and sunny spells in the afternoon.

Temperatures will be between 8 and 11C with moderate north to northeast breezes, according to the forecaster.

Met Éireann said a good deal of dry weather is expected for the rest of the week, but temperatures will stay cool and it will be quite cloudy at times.