Friday

Met Éireann has said that spectators for this year's St Patrick's Day parades should expect to bring umbrellas with them, as widespread showers are forecast for the day.

The showers will be heavy and prolonged at times, with a chance of thunderstorms.

Highest temperatures of 11°C to 14°C in mostly moderate south to southeast winds.

Lowest temperatures are to drop to 5°C to 8°C, with mist and fog patches developing in areas of the country.

Saturday

Widespread outbreaks of rain are forecast to continue into Saturday morning and will be focused predominately in the east of the country.

The majority of areas will become dry, with sunny spells expected in Ulster.

Temperatures remain mild at 8°C to 10°C for the majority of the day until later that night, when temperatures are expected to drop as low as 2°C.

Met Éireann has said that moderate to strong westerly winds are forecast for northern coasts of the country.

Sunday

Sunday is forecast to be a cloudy day, with outbreaks of rain developing in Munster and Leinster, which will gradually extend throughout the country.

Light to moderate westerly winds will emerge in the south on Sunday afternoon.

Met Éireann said that rain is expected to turn heavy at times, with lowest temperatures dropping from 10°C to 6°C.

Management notes

Tillage management

Siobhán Walsh discusses keeping up to date with paperwork, soil sampling, purchasing slurry and growing forage crops.

Sheep management

Where ground conditions are challenging and grass supplies are scarce, ewes will benefit from concentrate supplements in early lactation, writes Darren Carty.

Beef management

Beef editor Adam Woods takes a look at fertiliser purchases, calving pens and creep areas and dealing with difficult weather conditions.

Dairy management

In the dairy notes, Aidan Brennan discusses the management of grass after a wet week of weather, on-off grazing and avoiding grazing of heavy covers.