Met Éireann has today (Wednesday, June 21) issued a Status Yellow warning for potato blight for the entire country.
According to the national forecaster, conditions allowing for the spread of blight will develop over Ireland from Thursday night (June 22) until Sunday morning (June 25).
There will be good opportunities for growers to carry out spraying today, Met Éireann said.
Blight
Potato blight is a disease caused by a fungal-like organism called Phytophthora infestans.
The disease spreads rapidly in humid weather in the foliage of potatoes and tomatoes, causing the foliage to decay and the potato to be infected.
Blight is the most important disease which affects the potato, in terms of the economic losses and environmental impact of disease management in Ireland.
According to Teagasc, around €5 million is spent by potato growers on fungicides annually in Ireland to mitigate the impacts of blight
Met Éireann
Met Éireann has said that the weather will continue to be unsettled over the coming week, with low pressure steering bands of rain in from the Atlantic later in the week.
This morning, there will be sunny spells with scattered showers in the west and north. The showers will become more widespread in the afternoon with some heavy falls in places and the risk of thunderstorms.
The showers will become confined to Leinster and Munster by the evening. Highest temperatures of 18° to 22° in light westerly winds.
It will be mostly dry tonight with clear spells and some isolated showers. The variable breezes will be light and temperatures will range from 8° to 13°
It will be dry and sunny on Thursday in most places with some well scattered showers. The southerly winds will be light and daytime temperatures will be 19° to 23°.
Met Éireann said that the current outlook is for warm and humid conditions on Friday and Saturday with some showers.