Monday

The day will start crisp and sunny in the south, cloudier in the north, and the afternoon will bring a mix of cloud and sunny spells everwhere.

Top temperatures will range between 10°C and 13°C in light northwesterly breezes, before dropping to between 2°C and 6°C over a dry night.

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Tuesday

Despite patches of light rain in Connacht and Ulster, it will be another mostly dry day, with cloudy periods and sunny spells, brighter in the south and east. Temperatures of 11°C to 14°C will fall to 2°C to 5°C at night.

Wednesday

There will be more clouds and patchy light rain, but, again, an overall dry day, with some sunshine in the southeast. While the afternoon will remain mild, the night will be colder, down to 1°C or 2°C in clear spells.

Thursday

The regime of cloudy periods and sunny spells is set to continue, with a small chance of patchy rain in the northwest, especially at night.

Highest temperatures will be between 12°C and 16°C in moderate southwest winds, fresh along Atlantic coasts, falling to 3°C to 7°C at night.

Friday

Early indications suggest it will be rather cloudy across Connacht and Ulster, with patchy light rain. Elsewhere, it looks set to remain dry with some sunshine, in highs of 11°C to 13°C.

Farming forecast

Rain and field conditions

Since the last significant rainfall over the St Patrick's Day weekend, rainfall averages have been low and will remain so, with just 1mm or 2mm forecast for the coming week in most of the country.

Only coastal areas in northwest Connacht and Ulster will receive more. This will be associated with good drying conditions.

With river levels going down, Met Éireann is expecting good progress in field conditions on all soil types this week.

Temperature

The past week has seen temperatures 1°C above normal, marking a recovery after the cold start to March. They will continue to rise until Thursday and fall next weekend.

Sunshine

It has been duller than normal in the past week, with sunshine between 70% and 80% of average.

Despite variable cloud amounts in the coming week, sunshine should be back above normal.

Spraying

There will be some opportunities for spraying, thanks to light to moderate winds and generally dry conditions this week.

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