Met Éireann has today (Monday, September 26) issued a Status Yellow warning for potato blight in the southwest.

The national forecaster said that conditions which are favourable to the spread of the disease will develop tomorrow and into Wednesday.

The advisory currently applies to counties Cork and Kerry.

Due to the breezy and wet weather conditions, Met Éireann noted that opportunities for growers to spray crops will be limited.

The warning is set to remain in place until 1:00p.m on Wednesday (September 28).

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Phytophthora Infestans, the airborne fungus which causes blight, thrives in very high humidity.

According to Teagasc, around €5 million is spent by potato growers on fungicides annually in Ireland to mitigate the impacts of blight.

Meanwhile, Met Éireann has said that the forecast for today shows that most areas will be dry this afternoon with a mixture of cloud and sunny spells.

There may be the odd shower about in Ulster and north Leinster.

Temperatures will reach 12° to 15° but it will feel cool in the gusty northwest winds.

Apart from the northeast of the country where there will be isolated showers, it will stay mostly dry tonight. Cloud will build in the southwest as the night progresses bringing some rain.

The temperatures will fall back to between 8° to 12° in moderate to fresh northwest winds.

Tuesday will be cool, cloudy and blustery with the rain in the southwest spreading across Munster, Connacht and south Leinster.

Met Éireann said that there will be “a good deal of dry weather” in store for Wednesday and Thursday but it will become unsettled as the weekend approaches.