TEMPERATURES ARE SET to reach as high as 28 degrees this weekend, as the national hosepipe ban kicks in today.

Another dry warm day is forecast around the country today, with a warmer weekend in store, Met Éireann has said.

Irish Water confirmed on Wednesday that the national hosepipe ban would be introduced at 8am today until the end of month, as it seeks to conserve already depleted water levels caused by the lack of rainfall.

There will be some drizzle today in northern parts and possibly on the west coast, but it’ll be largely dry elsewhere.

Tomorrow will follow a similar pattern with a chance of rain in these areas in the morning, followed by warm sunshine in the afternoon with temperatures between 22 and 26 degrees with the highest in southern counties.

The outlook is for “mainly dry, warm weather [to] continue through the rest of the weekend and for the early days of next week, with an advisory in operation for drought conditions,” Met Éireann forecast.

The temperatures will be highest on Sunday, ranging between 23 and 28 degrees, with south-eastern counties set to be the hottest.

There’s some sporadic rainfall forecast next week but it’ll stay largely dry for much of it.

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That forecast is not good news for Irish Water, as the drought conditions is exacerbating its problem in keeping supply up with demand.

It said in a statement: “On average demand across all water resources nationally has increased by 15%, and given the environmental pressures on the aquifers and waterbodies, this cannot be sustained for any period of time.”

The national hosepipe ban has the potential to stem increases in demand, and Irish Water thanked the public for their efforts to conserve water.

The ban applies to using water drawn through a hosepipe or similar apparatus for the purpose of:

• Watering a garden
• Cleaning a private motor vehicle using a domestic hosepipe
• Cleaning a private boat
• Filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool (except when using hand-held containers filled directly from a tap)
• Filling or maintaining a domestic pond (excluding fish ponds)
• Filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain (with the exception of use for commercial purposes)
• Filling or replenishing an artificial pond, lake or similar application