Met Éireann has forecast that Friday will be dry in most areas with bright or sunny spells but patchy rain and drizzle will affect parts of the west and northwest, clearing in the afternoon.

Cloudier conditions will be building from the south through the day with mist and drizzle patches developing near southern coasts.

Friday evening is expected to remain mostly dry and cloudy with just some patches of mist and drizzle.

There will be lowest temperatures of 4°C to 8°C in moderate, occasionally fresh, southerly winds.

Saturday

The national forecaster has announced that Saturday will be mostly cloudy in the morning with a few patches of drizzle and mist, and some sunny spells will break through by the afternoon.

There is the chance of outbreaks of rain arriving into parts of the southwest and west later in the evening with highs of 12°C in moderate southerly winds.

Saturday night will bring a mix of cloud and clear spell with outbreaks of rain slowly moving in from the west over much of Munster, Connacht and west Ulster, according to Met Éireann.

Drier and clearer further east though with a few spots of drizzle but there will be lowest temperatures of 5°C to 9°C generally across the country.

Sunday

Met Eireann said that Sunday is expected to be wetter as outbreaks of rain will continue to slowly move eastwards, clearing from the western half of the country by the evening with sunny spells and some showers following.

Highs of 8°C to 12°C can be expected with mostly light to moderate southerly winds.

In the nighttime the last of the rain will clear in the east early in the night with clear spells and some showers following.

There will be lowest temperatures of 4°C in light to moderate southwest winds across the country.

Management notes

Beef

In the beef notes, Adam Woods takes a look at the slurry opening dates, calf purchase and previews next week's spring suckler demo.

Dairy

In dairy, Martin Merrick discusses some of the talk around calf quality and CBV at this year’s IGA conference, as well as calving prep and spreading slurry in the open period.

Tillage

Siobhán Walsh notes the start of the slurry spreading season and the cereal recommended list in tillage this week. She also talks about reporting slurry movements, spreading organic manures and keeping an eye out for incoming scheme payments.

Sheep

In the sheep management notes, Darren Carty gives his views on feeding plans for ewes, dwindling fodder supplies and options for organic feeding.