Monday

Monday will be cloudy with outbreaks of rain and drizzle, according to Met Éireann. These will be most persistent in the northwest.

Much of Munster will be dry, with a chance of sunny intervals there. Highest temperatures will range from 9°C to 11°C in light to moderate westerly winds.

Monday night will be cloudy with outbreaks of light rain or drizzle, mainly in the north and east. Lowest temperatures will range from 6°C to 9°C.

Tuesday

It will be a cloudy and damp start to Tuesday, with further rain and drizzle in places, but it will become drier as the day goes on with a few breaks in the cloud developing. Highest temperatures will range from 9°C to 12°C in light westerly winds.

It will turn mostly cloudy again on Tuesday night with more outbreaks of light rain developing, turning persistent for a time in the northwest. It will be a little cooler than Monday night, with minimum temperatures of 4°C to 7°C.

Wednesday

Wednesday will start off cloudy, with scattered outbreaks of rain moving southeastwards through the morning before showers develop in the northwest by the afternoon. These will turn more frequent and heavier as the day goes on. Highest afternoon temperatures will range from 6°C to 9°C in light to moderate westerly winds.

Showers will become widespread on Wednesday night, merging into longer spells of rain at times. The rain will be heaviest in western areas and there will be a risk of hail too. It will be a cold night, with lowest temperatures of 1°C to 4°C.

Thursday

There is some uncertainty in Met Éireann’s forecast for Thursday, but the current indications are for a cold day, with widespread showers of rain or hail, clearing from most areas later in the day. However, there is a chance of a more prolonged spell of rain developing in the southwest later. Highest temperatures will range from 5°C to 7°C.

Farming forecast

Rain

Rainfall amounts over the past seven days were about half the average across much of Leinster and Munster. Over Connacht, amounts were much closer to normal. Claremorris recorded the largest amount of rainfall with 46mm while in Dublin, just 6mm was recorded.

There will be small amounts of precipitation for the early part of the week before more substantial rainfall later in the week. Overall, most areas are expected to be below average (50% to 90%) but areas in the north and west will likely see more than normal for the time of year.

Temperatures

Mean air temperatures were cooler than normal throughout the country over the past week, with cool daytime temperatures and several frosty nights. Mean values ranged from 5.2°C in Mullingar to 8.4°C in Valentia. Generally it was mildest along northern, western and southwestern coasts and coldest in the midlands.

The coming week will start with temperatures increasing but then turning cooler towards the end of the week. Overall, the mean air temperatures for the coming week will be close to normal. Mean soil temperatures were also above normal over the past week and will be likely close to normal in the week ahead.

Sunshine

Sunshine amounts were well above average over the past week for much of the country with 1.5 times the average recorded in most of the stations. Most areas will see a lot of cloud for the beginning of the week and overall sunshine values will likely be below normal for the week.

Drying and spraying conditions

Drying conditions over the coming week will generally be poor, with either dry periods with slack winds or with rain and showers and stronger winds.

The best opportunities for spraying will be Tuesday, with largely dry conditions and light winds.

Field conditions

All soils are currently saturated or waterlogged. There will be a very slight improvement at times during the week but with heavier rainfall towards the end of the week, by next week soils conditions will have deteriorated slightly from their current conditions.