A dry spell of weather is forecast this weekend and may stretch into the early days of next week, according to Met Eireann, with the slurry spreading deadline set to close on October 15.

Today, Friday, will be dry and bright in many places, but there will be some well scattered showers in parts of the country, the forecast says.

A good deal of cloud is expected which will be interrupted by some sunny spells, especially in midland and northwestern areas.

Temperatures are set to reach highs of between 13 to 15 degrees in moderate southeast winds.

Outlook

This weekend and the first few days of next week will be generally dry with just the odd shower forecast, while there will also be spells of sunshine on each day.

Meanwhile, temperatures will reach highs of 16 degrees this weekend, but it will become a bit cooler from Monday and a slight grass frost may occur at night as a result, it says.

Winds, which will be mostly light and occasionally moderate, will be coming from the east or northeast, the forecast says.

Current indications from Met Eireann are that the settled weather, with light northeast winds, will continue for the rest of next week as well.

Over the coming days, both drying and spraying conditions are set to be moderate to good, with only some light and isolated showers forecast while winds are expected to be light to moderate.

However, field conditions remain saturated or waterlogged, especially along coastal regions in the west and southwest and where soils are poorly drained.

There will be an improvement however in eastern parts of the country over the coming week with light to moderate soils becoming trafficable.

The period of heavy rain between Sunday October 2 and Tuesday October 4 along the west and southwest of the country has resulted in the overall rainfall for the past week being well above average in those areas.

Up to five times the expected average was recorded along the southwest coast for the past week, Met Eireann says.

While areas further inland in the southwest were between one and a half times to two and a half times above the long term expected average values.