There will be scattered showers mostly in the south on Monday which will clear later with the north remaining mostly dry throughout the day. Highest temperatures will reach 14 to 16°C and winds will be south-easterly and light to moderate.

Monday night will be mainly dry with outbreaks of rain coming from the west as the night goes on. Lowest temperatures will be 10 to 13°C and winds will be south-westerly and moderate to fresh.

By Tuesday morning, any lingering rain will clear and the day will be dry with sunny intervals. Winds will be moderate to fresh and temperatures will be highest in the south west at 15 to 18°C. Tuesday night will be mainly dry and mild with south-westerly breezes however some drizzle will come to affect western and northern coasts by the end of the night.

Similarly, it will be mainly dry on Wednesday aside from drizzle affecting western and northern counties. A band of rain will arrive in the north and northwest later, but will then clear south-eastwards across the country on Wednesday night. Warm air carried by south-westerly breezes and sunshine will mean temperatures could be in excess of 20°C in many southern and eastern parts.

By Thursday temperatures will drop back sharply to below normal levels and it will feel cool with fresh and gusty westerly winds bringing showers to all areas. It also appears that Friday will remain cool, breezy and showery in general also.

Farming weather

Rainfall

Rainfall has been above normal over much of the country in the last week, with the exception of the east coast and east Ulster where values have been near or slightly below average amounts for the time of year. Western parts of Connacht and Munster, in particular, recorded nearly twice the normal rainfall owing to high intensity frontal precipitation over last Friday and Saturday, which verified as a yellow warning accumulation in these areas.

For the coming week, the latest data indicates that it will be a drier than average week over much of the country though there are a couple of exceptions. Western coastal districts of Connacht and Co Donegal are likely to have near normal totals or above. Much of Leinster and Munster, however, are likely to have less than 40% of the average rainfall accumulation in the next 7 days.

Temperatures

Mean air values have been between 0.5 and 0.7°C below normal recently, however temperatures have been nearer or slightly above average in west Connacht and Ulster. A brief period of milder than average temperatures is expected in the first half of the coming week, but this will be swiftly followed by a period of slightly cooler than average temperatures later in the week, so overall, not much change is expected in the current air temperature profile.

Air temperatures are likely to remain slightly below normal at between 0.2 and 0.8°C below. Soil values are still above normal ranging 0.5 to 1.9°C above, best of all over much of Connacht, north Munster, south Ulster and west Leinster.

Sunshine

This parameter has been decidedly below normal at between 34 and 75%. We may see these figures recover somewhat this week, but sunshine in the coming week is still likely to remain below normal with an unsettled Atlantic regime in place.

Drying conditions

Drying conditions have been poor in the last week, but there will be occasions in the coming week with good drying conditions, away from the northwest coast. Present indications suggest Tuesday and Wednesday will offer good drying conditions over much of the country.

With a mobile Atlantic regime in place, spraying opportunities are limited in the coming week.

Ground conditions

Very poor in many places just now, with even well-drained soils at saturation level, except for near the east coast where soils are still trafficable. Heavy showers today will not help, but the drier conditions midweek this week will alleviate matters a little. Poorly-drained soils are likely to remain saturated or water-logged however, with the exception of the vicinity of the east coast.

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