After morning rain clears in the south, Met Éireann is forecasting Monday to be a cool, showery day across the country. Some showers will be heavy with hail and thunder. Highest temperatures will range from 7°C to 10°C in fresh westerly winds, stronger along Atlantic coasts.

Temperatures will drop to freezing point on Monday night, with early frost. Showers will become isolated but could turn wintry during the night. Winds will remain strong along the coasts and may reach gale force in the north.

Tuesday will remain cold with snow showers expected across the west, including on lower ground. Strong winds will ease during the day but temperatures will not exceed 4°C to 7°C. They will the plummet to between 0°C and -4°C at night, with severe frost as the skies clear.

The outlook for the rest of the week is for continued cold weather, dry conditions and fewer showers. On Thursday showers are likely to turn wintry on high ground in the east. Daytime temperatures will range between 6°C and 9°C and frost will continue at night.

A return to milder temperatures by day is not expected until the end of the week.

Farming weather

Rain

St Patrick’s Day marked the end of the previous dry week. Western and northern counties received the highest rainfall totals with Newport Furnace in Co Mayo reporting 54mm of rain in just two days (17 and 18 March). Weather conditions will remain unsettled for the next few days in parts of the west and especially the north with high rainfall, but drier elsewhere with lighter rainfall. Cold, showery conditions will become established by Monday night with the risk of wintry precipitation and localised transient accumulations of snow. However, it looks set to become drier by next weekend.

Temperatures

Last week was very mild with mean air temperatures of 2°C to 3°C above normal and soil temperatures are running 3°C to 4°C above also. A significant change will occur in the coming week with temperatures dipping well below normal through much of the period. Air and ground frost will occur on most nights and will be severe in places. Milder conditions are likely to return by late next weekend but there will continue to be the threat of overnight frost.

Sunshine

Sunshine amounts have been mostly above normal in the last week, between 110 and 160% of normal generally, but coastal fringes of Kerry were a little lower. The coming week will be mixed with sunshine and showers. Sunshine amounts are expected to be slightly above average.

Drying conditions

Drying conditions will be fairly poor with rain or showers on most days. However, an improvement is expected by next weekend.

Spraying

Limited spraying opportunities during the week ahead with blustery conditions dominating. However, opportunities for spraying are likely to improve by next weekend.

Field conditions

Well drained soils are trafficable in most areas at present and will continue to be over the next week. However, moderate and poorly drained soils will remain saturated or waterlogged.