Monday

Monday will be a mostly cloudy day with patchy rain, drizzle and mist according to Met Éireann.

It will be mild, however, with highest temperatures of 10°C to 15°C.

It will be warmest towards the south coast, where the best of any sunny intervals will be.

Monday night will see rain and drizzle develop in the northwest early in the night and spread southeastwards across the country overnight.

Drier and clearer conditions will develop in the northwest towards morning.

It will remain mild, with lowest temperatures of 6°C to 9°C.

Tuesday

Tuesday will start cloudy with patchy outbreaks of rain or drizzle in most places.

Dry and sunny conditions in the northwest will extend to all areas by the afternoon.

It will be a pleasant afternoon for most, with temperatures increasing to between 11°C and 16°C.

These dry and clear conditions will see temperatures fall to between -1°C and +3°C on Tuesday night, so there will be frost in places.

Light north to northwest breezes will allow some pockets of mist and fog to form in the west.

Wednesday (St Patrick’s Day)

St Patrick’s Day will be dry, with good spells of sunshine and it will feel pleasant too in light, variable breezes and afternoon temperatures of 12°C to 16°C.

On Wednesday night, it will become cloudier with a chance of some patchy drizzle along west and northwest coasts. Minimum temperatures of 3°C to 6°C.

Thursday

Latest forecasts from Met Éireann indicate Thursday will start off cloudy with some patchy drizzle in the west, but becoming dry with sunny spells through the afternoon.

It will be a cooler day, with highest temperatures of 8°C to 11°C.

Farming forecast

Temperatures

Mean air temperatures last week were generally average or just below average, between 6°C and 7°C.

For the coming week, it will be milder than average from Monday to Wednesday, especially in the south, before turning cooler from Thursday.

Mean soil temperatures were generally above average by around 1°C or 2°C last week, with values generally between 6°C and 7°C. Mean soil temperatures will maintain similar values over the coming week.

Sunshine

Over the past week the southeast fared best, with values above average. Dublin had the highest sunshine amounts with over 32 hours recorded.

Elsewhere it was duller, with sunshine below normal. Mayo had less than 10 hours of sunshine in the past week, less than half its average.

There will generally be cloudy conditions on Monday and Tuesday followed by sunny days on Tuesday and Wednesday, and mixed conditions for the end of the week. Sunshine totals overall this coming week will be around average.

Field conditions

Poorly drained soils are waterlogged nationwide. Moderately drained soils across the west and north of the country are also waterlogged, and saturated elsewhere. Well-drained soils are currently saturated nationwide.

Soil moisture deficits will increase over the next week with predominantly dry conditions. Both well-drained and moderately drained soils will have soil moisture deficits of 5mm to 10mm by next weekend. Poorly drained soils will remain saturated.

Field trafficability will gradually improve throughout the week.