Monday: Mostly cloudy today, scattered rain this morning with dry periods also. More persistent rain will develop in western and southwestern areas this afternoon and will extend to most places later in the afternoon and evening. Some heavy falls are likely in the west and northwest. Hill and coastal fog will occur also, especially in the west and south. Maximum temperatures 14°C to 19°C, in mostly light westerly breezes, later becoming southerly or variable.

Mild, humid and cloudy tonight, with outbreaks of persistent and at times heavy rain in Connacht, Ulster and parts of north Leinster, but rain will be more patchy elsewhere. Misty, with hill and coastal fog. Minimum temperatures 10°C to 14°C, in light variable winds.

Tuesday: Further persistent and locally heavy rain in the morning in parts of Connacht and Ulster, but more patchy elsewhere. Good dry intervals will develop in most parts during the day and rain will gradually become lighter and more intermittent in the west and north. Quite warm and humid, except in the north and northwest. Maximum temperatures 15°C to 20°C, in light variable breezes.

Wednesday: Warm and humid. Dry in most parts, with some sunshine developing, mainly in parts of the south and east. However, many parts of the west and north will be cloudier, with the possibility of a few spots of light rain or drizzle at times. Maximum temperatures 17°C to 24°C, in light variable winds.

Thursday: Dry in most areas, with sunny spells, but there is still the possibility of a few spots of light rain or drizzle in places. Maximum temperatures 17°C to 24°C, (lowest values on Atlantic coasts), with mostly light southerly or variable breezes, moderate on Atlantic coasts.

Friday: Early indications suggest that it will turn cooler, with temperatures falling back to slightly below normal values, generally in the mid to high teens. It will be changeable and unsettled, with the risk of heavy rain spreading from the Atlantic later Friday and Friday night and with some rain at times over the weekend, but dry spells also.

Farming Weather

Rain:

The week gone by was rather cool and wet across most of the country, with the heaviest of the rainfall experienced across the eastern half of Ireland. Rainfall was typically twice that of average up along eastern counties, with most of this falling during the course of Thursday and Friday, both these days in fact saw very little let up in the rain. The western half was drier comparatively, nonetheless rainfall in these parts was about normal, with 25mm of rainfall recorded on average. The week ahead looks set to bring below normal totals for a lot of Ireland, however rainfall figures may come in slightly above usual across the northern half of the country. Current indications suggest most of this rainfall will occur Sunday night, Tuesday, and then again over the course of next weekend.

Temperatures:

Temperatures were below normal over the last 7 days with mean air values generally 1 degree below average. It was particularly cool across the north and northeast, including the greater Dublin region. In fact temperatures on Thursday and Friday maxed out at 13°C and 14°C respectively in the east. Mean air values for the past seven days ranged anywhere from 13°C to 15°C, with mildest conditions on the whole recorded further south, especially across the likes of Cork. A bit of an improvement through the week ahead now, with mean air values expected to come in around normal. There will however be a couple of cooler days, currently the coolest days appear to Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday of next week.

Sunshine:

As well as being a cool and wet week, unsurprisingly it was quite dull too. Sunshine for the main was just two thirds of the normal. Donegal was particularly dull, with 10 hours sunshine in total, which equates to one third of the normal. The brightest area was Shannon, with 26 hours in all. Sunshine doesn’t look overly promising for the week ahead, however as compared to last week, it should be a brighter one.

Drying Conditions:

Rain will move in late Monday and persist for a time on Tuesday. Somewhat drier later in the week but with occasional showers. Winds will be generally light to moderate in strength. Drying conditions are expected to moderate.

Spraying:

There will be opportunities for spraying on some of the days too. Midweek offers the best of these.

Field Conditions:

Despite some wet weather this past week, SMD are about 10 to 20mm. Consequently restriction to growth may transpire in some well drained soils, with medium soils remaining trafficable.

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