Met Éireann has said that Friday will bring a mix of sunny spells and showers.

The showers will be mainly in the west at first, but they'll spread elsewhere in the afternoon, and some of them will be heavy with isolated thunderstorms and the chance of hail, especially in the west and north.

Highest temperatures will reach 18°C according to Met Éireann. Light to moderate westerly winds will increase moderate to fresh southwest in the afternoon increasing strong and gusty near western and southwestern coasts later.

Longer spells of rain with an ongoing chance of isolated thunderstorms will gradually become confined to the west and north on Friday night, Met Éireann has said.

Long clear spells will develop elsewhere overnight. Lowest temperatures of 8°C to 11°C are expected, with southwesterly winds decreasing mostly moderate overland, fresher near coasts.

Saturday

Met Éireann announced that Saturday will be a bright and breezy day with sunshine and showers. There'll be good dry spells too, especially further to the east and south.

Moderate to fresh and occasionally gusty westerly winds will be strong at times in coastal parts of the west and north. Highest temperatures of 17°C are expected, it said.

It'll be largely dry on Saturday night with clear spells, with just a few showers in the west and northwest. Lowest temperatures ranging between 8°C to 11°C in light to moderate southwest winds.

Sunday

Sunday will be dry with some sunshine in the east, however, cloudier conditions in the west with outbreaks of rain and drizzle will gradually spread eastwards as the day goes on, Met Éireann has revealed.

Becoming drier and brighter again from the west later in the day.

Highest temperatures of 15°C to 18°C are forecast in mostly moderate south to southwest breezes. It'll be largely dry on Sunday night with clear spells, and just a few showers near Atlantic coasts.

Met Éireann are expecting lowest temperatures of 11°C to 14°C with light to moderate southwest winds.

Management notes

Tillage notes

In this week’s tillage management notes Siobhán Walsh mentions the harvest, and encourages farmers to plant oilseed rape and cover crops as soon as possible. She also offers advice on the use of glyphosate.

Sheep notes

Darren Carty outlines the importance of plunge dipping sheep for the control of external parasites in this week’s sheep management notes.

He highlights the demand for good-quality crossbred lambs in the marts, and he mentions the €uro-star multi -breed sale which takes place in Tullamore Co Offaly on Saturday.

Dairy notes

In the dairy management notes this week, Aidan Brennan discusses ways farmers can optimise cash flow for their business.

He outlines that Salmonella is next important vaccine required for pregnant cows and in-calf heifers, and he encourages farmers to get the last of their fertiliser out before the closed periods.

Beef notes

Martin Merrick discusses ways to manage the wetter weather in this week’s beef management section.

He mentions the weanling trade along with scanning and what to do with empty cows and heifers.