A dry, cold start to the week is expected to be followed by milder, wetter weather over the coming days, according to Met Éireann.

It will be dry today with a mix of cloud and sunshine. The best of the sunshine will be in the south and east of the country, with cloudier conditions in the west and north.

After a chilly start temperatures will rise to 10° to 12° in light north-west or variable breezes.

Tonight will be dry as well with mostly clear skies in the south and east with lowest temperatures of -1° to 4° and a slight grass frost.

Cloud will increase in the west and north overnight and it will be less cold there with 3° to 6°. Light south-west winds will increase moderate to fresh on north-west coasts.

With showers and light winds, drying opportunities will be limited for much of the week. Tomorrow currently looks like the best day.

There should be good opportunities for spraying today with dry conditions and light winds. Current indications suggest that Thursday could have good spraying conditions.

Regarding field conditions, most soils are at saturation or waterlogged and it looks like there will be very little change over the coming week, according to Met Éireann.

Sunshine is likely to come in above normal over the next several days.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow, after a bright start, cloud will thicken from the west and it will become breezy later as well. It will stay largely dry though.

Highest temperatures of 11° to 13° are expected. South-west winds will increase moderate to fresh later in the day.

Outbreaks of rain will move in across Connacht and Ulster tomorrow night but it will stay mainly dry elsewhere. Minimum temperatures of 7° to 9° are forecast in moderate to fresh southerly winds.

Outlook

On Wednesday, rain in the west will gradually spread across the country. The rain will turn heavy at times in the west.

It will become breezy as well with fresh and gusty southerly winds. Early Wednesday night the rain will clear with just a few showers following. Minimum temperatures will again drop to 4° to 7° in light westerly breezes.

It looks like it will be mostly dry on Thursday with some sunny spells.

Highest temperatures will be between 9° and 12° in light breezes, Met Éireann says.

On Friday, it seems likely that rain moves up from the south, possibly turning heavy.

In this scenario it will become milder as well from the south as the day goes on. Strong winds are also possible with the rain, the national meteorological office concludes.