Met Éireann is forecasting that from Wednesday heavy rain will fall, with further heavy downpours expected for the weekend.

Fog will be slow to clear on Monday but when it does it will leave a dry and bright day. Fog will linger in the odd place until noon.

Met Éireann has issued a status orange weather warning for widespread fog on Monday, where it will be dense in places. The warning is in place until 12.00pm.

Otherwise there will be good sunshine, with top temperatures of 16°C to 19°C.

Tuesday will be similar to Monday with mostly good, dry weather for most of the day. There will be outbreaks of rain on Tuesday night but the west should remain dry.

Top temperatures on Tuesday will range from 16°C to 19°C.

The rain will spread eastwards on Wednesday to affect all areas. The rain will be heavy and persistent.

It will continue on Wednesday night but will begin to clear on Thursday. The dry spell after the rain will only be short-lived, however. Another band of rain will move across the country from the west. It will be very windy too, with some westerly gales. Top temperatures on Thursday will range from 13°C to 15°C.

According to Met Éireann, Friday and the weekend will be no better. The wet and unsettled conditions will continue, with some heavy rain forecast for Saturday in particular. Temperatures on Friday and the weekend will be in the 11°C to 14°C range.

Farming forecast

Rain

Rainfall in the week just gone was between 110% and 180% of average weekly levels.

Overall it was a wet week, as anyone at the Ploughing will testify to.

This week again is set to see above normal rainfall amounts despite Monday and Tuesday being likely to remain mostly dry. Met Éireann is forecasting twice the average rain volumes this coming week.

Temperatures

Although last week was cooler than normal and this week is also set to be 1.3°C below normal temperature levels, soil temperatures are still ahead of normal. Where soils are saturated, grass growth has slowed but it is still growing.

Drying and field conditions

Many herds are housed full-time and some dairy farms have cows in at night. Those heavier soils are unlikely to see cattle out again this year.

Soil moisture deficits are low everywhere and the poorly drained or heavy soils are now fully waterlogged.

Pressure is growing on areas where slurry has not been spread.

For tillage farmers, the rain continues to slow the harvest as well as planting.