It will be a generally dry and cloudy start to the week, with just some patchy mist and drizzle.

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The cloud will thin out later this afternoon and better brightness will develop towards evening. Highest temperatures will be between 10°C and 13°C in light southwesterly breezes. It will be mainly dry and clear overnight with patches of fog and mist. Grass frost is likely to occur and lowest temperatures will be between 1°C and 4°C.

Mostly dry conditions are forecasted for Tuesday with sunshine developing throughout the day. There will be light easterly breezes and highest temperatures will be between 10°C and 14°C.

For Wednesday similar conditions are expected with more good sunshine. Temperatures will be slightly warmer at 13°C to 16°C and winds will be moderate easterly breezes.

It will still be dry on Thursday and sunny, with highs of 12°C to 16°C. Near the Leinster and south-Munster coast, fresh east to southeast winds will keep it cooler.

The dry weather is expected to continue all week, with just some occasional rain along the south Munster coast on Friday. Highest temperatures will be between 10°C and 15°C.

Farming weather

Rain

Rainfall amounts for the past week were well above average over most of Ireland. The highest totals were in east Leinster and south Munster with between 200% and 350% of the long-term average. In western parts of Connacht and Ulster, amounts were below average. It has been relatively dry over the last few days, and with high pressure dominating the weather over the coming week, not much rainfall is expected. Northern and central areas may stay almost completely dry. The south has the most chance of any significant rain later in the week, but this is by no means certain.

Temperatures

It has been quite cold so far this month with mean air temperatures below average. Air temperatures for the past week have been between -1°C and -2°C below average. However, records show that soil temperatures have been slightly above average. Mean air temperatures are expected to average out just below normal over the week period, but the anomaly is forecast to be within a degree in most areas. Due to this cool trend, soil temperatures will come closer to normal this week.

Sunshine

Sunshine amounts were mostly below average for the past week, and ranged from 70% in east Ulster and north Leinster to 120% in the southwest. There is a high pressure dominating over the coming week, so sunshine amounts are expected to be above average.

Drying conditions

As there is very little rain and some decent sunshine expected in the coming week, there will be good drying weather.

Spraying

There will be good opportunities for spraying over the coming week as it will be mainly dry with mostly light winds.

Field conditions

Soil conditions are poor at the moment with the recent heavy rain, with many soil saturated. A combination of very little rain and some decent sunshine will bring an improvement in soil trafficability.