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It has been bone dry almost countrywide the past week, except for far north and far southeast, but there was no more than 1mm of rainfall recorded in these areas.
In the latest farming forecast, Met Éireann has said: “Rainfall is much needed at this stage, with the ground, crops and animals crying out for water.”
Currently, there is still uncertainty surrounding rainfall amounts for next week. Indications are that it will stay largely dry over the coming days.
There is some suggestion of showers over the weekend with best hopes that these will arrive on Sunday and move up through the country from the south.
It is also possible that a low pressure area off the west coast of France may feed in some showers but any showers will be well-scattered and by no means guaranteed.
In terms of temperature, the general range will be 25-31°C with hottest values up until and including this coming Saturday.
These high temperatures have left land very solid. Soil moisture deficits are 60-80 mm across the east, south and a good deal of the midlands. In the north and northwest soil moisture deficits are 30 to 40mm.
Sunshine figures for the past seven days were over 90 hours for the bulk of the country. This represents a daily average of over 12 hours of sunshine a day, up to three times the average.
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