Hot weather expected for Northern Ireland after thunderstorm warning

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms for parts of Northern Ireland.

The warning lasts until 9pm on Monday.

The public has been advised to prepare for sudden weather changes with heavy rain, hail and possible lightning.

Despite the forecasted storm and thundery showers, which will mostly impact areas in the region like Fermanagh, Tyrone and Londonderry, hot temperatures are expected to continue over the week ahead.

Here UTV's weather forecaster Aisling Creevey explains why is this happening?

This warm spell of weather feels very different to the weather we experienced in May. Daytime temperatures now are similar, somewhere between 20 -25C but overnight temperatures in May dropped into single digits, so there was plenty of cooling before temperatures bounced back up again the next day.

Currently overnight temperatures are dropping to around 15C. To put this into perspective, at the time of year the average temperature by day is between 17 - 18 C. Another big factor in why it feels different now is that in May the source of the air that was with us was coming form the north and it contained less moisture, which translates to less humidity. The humidity levels have now drastically changed.

The source of the air that is with us at the moment is Africa, picking up moisture from the Atlantic and the European continent and this is really the key thing making it feel so uncomfortable. At the moment, it is very warm and muggy and tonight temperatures are expected to drop between 16-18C. The combination of hot and humid air is the perfect recipe for showers that can get big enough to generate thunderstorms. For the next two days there is a thunderstorm risk and it is only through Wednesday that the humidity will drop to make things a little more comfortable.

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