Conditions over the coming days will be changeable with wet and windy weather at times on the cards for this week, according to Met Éireann.
It will be very windy for a time this morning with a band of heavy rain pushing quickly eastwards across the country, the national meteorological office noted in its forecast for the week today, Monday, January 6.
The rain will clear into the Irish Sea before lunchtime with sunny spells and well-scattered showers following from the west.
Strong to gale force southerly winds will veer west to south-west by afternoon and moderate thereafter.
Maximum temperatures of 7° to 10° are expected for today, the forecaster notes.
Tonight will be dry and chilly early in the night with minimum temperatures of 2° to 5° occurring before midnight.
However, cloud will quickly thicken and outbreaks of rain will spread across the country, accompanied by freshening southerly winds.
Most soils are currently saturated or waterlogged. With rainfall amounts expected to generally be around average or higher, there will be little improvement in the soil conditions.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow will be a damp and windy day with scattered outbreaks of rain accompanied by strong to gale force southwesterly winds. It will be very mild with highest afternoon temperatures ranging from 11° to 14°.
Patchy rain will clear eastwards tomorrow night and the strong south-west breeze will begin to ease.
Skies will clear later on and minimum temperatures will dip to between 2° and 5°, Met Éireann notes.
Outlook
Wednesday will see a cold and mostly dry start with some bright spells developing.
There is the threat of a spell of rain moving in across southern counties during the day but this remains uncertain, according to the meteorological office. Highest temperatures of 6° to 9° are expected on the day.
A chilly day is forecast with highest temperatures of 4° to 7°, Met Éireann notes.