Weekend weather: blustery conditions, sunny spells and showers set to continue

Friday

Friday morning will see blustery conditions, with continuing strong westerly winds near western and northern coasts. Winds are due to easy gradually through the afternoon and evening.

A mix of sunny spells and showers will be experienced, with showers most frequent over Connacht and Ulster.

There will be a lot of dry weather elsewhere, with good sunny spells forecast. Temperatures will range from 16°C to 20°C.

Friday night will see southwesterly winds easing light to moderate, with largely dry conditions at the beginning of the night, with isolated showers turning heavy as cloud and rain push in from the southwest. Lowest temperatures of 9°C to 13°C.

Saturday

Rain will continue from the southwest through the morning and afternoon, heaviest in the southwest and west, but easing through the evening.

Ulster and parts of Connacht will stay mainly dry, with sunny spells and scattered showers forecast.

Highest temperatures of 15°C to 19°C expected, with light to moderate southeasterly winds.

On Saturday night, it will be mostly dry and clear over Ulster, with rain further south turning north. Drier and clearer conditions to follow from the southwest. However, cloud and rain can be expected in the southwest towards dawn.

Temperatures will range from 9°C to 12°C, warmer along southern coasts. Light to moderate southerly winds will be fresh along southern and southwestern coasts.

Sunday

Sunday will see sunny spells with showers, mainly affecting southern and northern areas. Highest temperatures of 16°C to 20°C expected.

Moderate northwesterly winds forecast to develop, turning fresh to strong on southwestern coasts.

Sunday night will see many areas becoming dry, although there will be some scattered showers that will feed in a moderate northwesterly airflow, which will predominately affect Atlantic and northern coastal counties.

Temperatures will range from 9°C to 12°C.

Sheep

A well-thought-out plan should be put in place to manage autumn grass and ensure supplies for priority sheep are not compromised, Darren Carty advises.

Tillage

The broken week made harvesting difficult, but some growers still got some cutting done, especially in the southern half of the country, writes Andy Doyle.

Beef

Beef editor Adam Woods discusses finishing cattle off grass and what the key points are to make sure animals keep thriving. He also looks at clostria vaccines and breeding vaccines for autumn heifers.

Dairy

In the dairy notes, Aidan Brennan looks at grazing management, milking equipment, the importance or sensible investment and urges farmers to have their say on the nitrates plans and on CAP.