Bathers cool off at Sandycove, Dublin, this weekend

Make the most of the sizzling start to the summer – this weekend's balmy bliss will make way for more familiar, cooler conditions from tomorrow.

As thousands of people travelled in their droves to long-abandoned beaches, the Met Office warned that a sharp drop in temperatures would follow what were predicted to be the highest temperatures of the year today. Measurements on Saturday hovered in the 20s, and by today it was predicted that, in some parts of the country, temperatures would climb to as high as 26°C.

"It will get cooler [this] week though," a Met Eireann spokesman said yesterday. "These temperatures won't be sustained; we'll go back to normal from Monday onwards, probably about 14 or 15°C."

Some rain and patches of fog are expected, with sea fog likely to drift in over the coming days. "Northern areas especially are likely to be cloudier, with perhaps a little showery rain at times," the spokesman said.

He could not offer any hope of good weather to come. The blue skies were "no guidance as to what will happen for the rest of the summer, unfortunately", he said