Met Éireann has today (Sunday, September 18) issued a Status Yellow warning for potato blight in several counties.

The national forecaster said that weather conditions conducive to the spread of the disease are expected to develop on Wednesday through to Thursday.

The warning, which is due to remain in place until 11:00a.m on Thursday, currently applies to Donegal; Galway; Mayo; and Sligo.

Met Éireann has advised growers that “there will be opportunities for spraying over the next couple of days”.

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

The airborne fungus, Phytophthora Infestans, which causes blight, thrives in very high humidity, combined with an odd shower of rain.

weather Potato Blight, Met Eireann, Weather, spraying chlorothalonil

The weather forecast for today shows that there will be a mixture of cloud and sunny spells across the country.

It will be dry in most areas but there will be some isolated showers, mainly in Ulster and Connacht.

Daytime temperatures will reach 14° to 17°, in a light westerly or variable breeze.

It will be dry and cloudy overnight, some light showers will fall in Ulster. Fog and mist will form in the calm conditions with lowest temperatures of 7° to 11°.

Monday will be cloudy with some sunny spells breaking through, there may be some scattered showers in Leinster and Ulster. Highest temperatures will be 14° to 17°.

Tuesday will be mild and humid with light to moderate south to southwest breezes. It will be mainly dry and cloudy, apart from Connacht and Ulster where there will be some light rain and drizzle.

Met Éireann has said that conditions will be “quite settled” next week with rain and drizzle in the west and northwest. Rain is forecast to move across the country during Wednesday night and early on Thursday.