It will be generally dry with good sunshine in many parts of the country on Friday morning. However, showers will gradually develop in the west and will slowly spread eastwards. Some heavy thundery downpours are likely this afternoon. Highs of 12°C to 15°C in light westerly breezes.

The last of the showers will die away later on Friday evening and most of the night will be dry and clear. Lows of 5°C or 6°C in light breezes.

Sunshine and showers again for Saturday.

Cloud will increase during Sunday morning and scattered outbreaks of rain and drizzle will affect west Munster, Connacht and north-west Ulster. In the afternoon, much of the country will stay dry but some patchy mist/drizzle/light rain will occur here and there. It will become a warm humid day with highs of 16°C to 18°C in southerly breezes.

There will continue to be showers into next week, but getting much warmer. Wednesday is expected to reach highs of 20°C in the east of the country.

Management notes

In this week’s beef management notes, Adam Woods takes a look at what needs to be done to get ready for silage and summer mastitis.

Dairy: Now that a lot of farms are approaching, or gone past, the three week stage of breeding, the number of cows bulling per day should decline sharply. Aidan Brennan reports on the latest results from the on-farm grass variety evaluations and giving later-born calves special attention in order to reach their target weights.

Sheep: A number of tasks in the sheep welfare scheme are required to be carried out in the May-to-September period and at last week’s IGA conference, Joe Ryan from Meat Industry Ireland reminded farmers of the importance of a clean livestock policy in food safety and protecting market access.

Tillage: Recent rain has been a significant benefit to spring crops but it is also driving weed germination.