Met Éireann has said that there will be mixed conditions for the August bank holiday weekend with a risk of some localised flooding in places.
It will be cloudy in general today (Friday, August 2) with some light rain and drizzle in parts.
During the late morning and afternoon rain will arrive in the west and move eastwards, some heavy falls are possible. A clearance to brighter weather will follow by evening.
Highest afternoon temperatures of 17° to 23°C, feeling warmest in the east, but it will turn fresher after the rain clears. The southerly winds will be fresh and gusty at times, veering westerly as the rain clears and moderating.
Tonight will be dry with long clear spells, apart from some showers along west and northwest coasts. It will feel cooler than recent nights with lowest temperatures of 8° to 12° in light to moderate southwest winds.
Bank holiday weekend
Met Éireann said that Saturday (August 3) will be a bright day with good spells of sunshine, along with some scattered showers too, particularly in the north and west.
The southwest to westerly winds will be mostly moderate, fresher on western coasts. Highest temperatures of 16° to 20°.
It will be mainly dry to start on Saturday night, but cloud is expected to build from the west bringing light rain and drizzle, it should remain mostly dry in the south and east.
Lowest temperatures of 10° to 14° with the southwest winds becoming fresh on the west coast.
It will be cloudy on Sunday (August 4), some brighter periods are possible in the south and east. Heavy and persistent rain will arrive in the west in the early afternoon, and extend to most areas, some of the southeast may remain dry.
Met Éireann warned that localised flooding is possible, especially across parts of Connacht, and possibly west Munster. The southerly winds will be gusty at times, highest temperatures of 16° to 20°.
The heavy rain will continue into Sunday night with a risk of spot flooding. It will feel humid with lowest overnight temperatures of 13° to 17°, the southerly winds will ease as the night progresses.
August bank holiday Monday will begin cloudy with spells of rain, there will be a clearance to brighter weather in the west and northwest which will extend to most places by the afternoon. Rain may linger in parts of the east and south.
It will continue to be humid with the rain, but it will become fresher in the clearance, highest temperatures of 18° to 22° in mostly moderate southwest winds which will veer westerly.
Tuesday will be a bright day with sunny spells and some scattered showers in the north and west. Highest temperatures 16° to 20° in moderate to fresh west to southwest winds.
Met Éireann said that the weather will continue to be changeable and mixed for the rest of the week and into the weekend, with some spells of rain at times.
Met Éireann
The outlook shows that over the coming week rainfall amounts are expected to range from 20mm in the southeast to 75mm in the northwest, which is between 120% and 210% of average across the country.
It will become noticeable cooler for the weekend and early next week. Overall, mean air temperatures will be around average and mean soil temperatures will continue above normal.
Drying conditions and spraying opportunities will become poor or intermittent from Friday onwards as the weather become more unsettled.
Soil moisture deficits (SMDs) across all soil types are generally between 5 to 10mm in the northwest to 55 to 60mm in the east with restriction to growth in many areas.
SMDs will decrease for all soil types due to the intermittent rain in the coming days and some soils in the northwest may become saturated or possibly waterlogged.
Met Éireann has also issued a Status Yellow advisory for potato blight which will be in place over the coming days.
Weather conditions conductive to the spread of potato blight will affect coastal counties in the west and southwest of the country until this evening.
From Sunday night to Tuesday afternoon, these conditions favourable to blight will affect much of the country.