Friday

The morning will start mostly dry, with sunny spells and well-scattered showers.

Light rain will begin move into west and southwest counties through the day, Met Éireann has said.

Breezy moderate to fresh southerly winds are forecast.

Friday night will see outbreaks of rain and drizzle over the west, spreading eastwards across the country overnight. It will stay relatively mild overnight.

Highest temperatures will range about 14°C to 18°C degrees.

Saturday

It is shaping up to be a mild day on Saturday, with long dry spells, but showery rain falling at times.

Scattered outbreaks of overnight rain and drizzle will clear to the east on Saturday morning and early afternoon.

Met Éireann said that brighter conditions will develop from the west, with mostly dry weather following for the rest of the day, with sunny spells developing, in just light southwest breezes.

Some isolated showers may occur along the west coast.

Highest temperatures of 15°C to 19°C are forecast, with the mildest conditions felt across the midlands, north and east of the country.

Sunday

It will be dry across most of the country on Sunday, with sunny spells and just light southerly breezes. There may be some isolated showers.

It should remain dry overall throughout the night, though some well-scattered showers will possibly drift into Atlantic counties towards morning time on Monday.

Highest temperatures are expected to range between 13°C and 19°C, mildest away from west and southwest coastal counties.

Management notes

Tillage

Andy Doyle takes a look at the control of the wet weather diseases starting to spread after last week’s rain, applying growth regulators to forward spring oat crops and straw incorporation amendments.

Sheep

Capitalising on record-high lamb prices by achieving optimum carcase weights, recent grass growth rates and the increased incidence of cast ewes are covered this week by Darren Carty.

Beef

The deadline details for opting into the extended BEAM nitrates reference period, the possible consequences of not separating bull and heifer calves, as well as the dosing of dairy-beef calves are discussed by Adam Woods.

Dairy

Aidan Brennan writes about fertilising fields for second silage cuts, getting a handle on grass quality after a challenging month of grazing and reports on lower than expected non-return rates for farmers over the breeding season.