Met Éireann has today (Monday, June 15) issued an advisory for potato blight for the entire country over the coming days.

The national forecaster has said that weather conditions favourable for the spread of potato blight will occur at times later on Tuesday (June 16) and on Wednesday (June 17) in some southern coastal counties.

These favourable conditions are expected to then extend nationwide on Thursday and Friday (June 18-19).

Met Éireann said that there will be some opportunities for spraying today with generally light to moderate winds and small amounts of rainfall.

However, spraying opportunities will be limited from Tuesday onwards with rain and showers pushing through on most days.

Potato blight is a plant disease caused by a fungal-like organism called Phytophthora infestans.

The pathogen spreads rapidly in humid weather in the foliage of potatoes and tomatoes, causing the foliage to decay and the potato/tomato to be infected.

Met Éireann

In its latest farming commentary, Met Éireann also said that rainfall totals in the coming week are expected to be above normal levels across the country.

Conditions are likely to be wettest in Atlantic coastal counties.

Rainfall totals are forecast to generally range from 20-40mm during the seven-day period.

Mean air temperatures will reach 14° to 16°C degrees, which is 0° to 2° above average for this time of year. Soil temperatures will continue above average.

While there will be some "reasonable" drying across the north and east of the country today, overall drying conditions are going to be rather poor over the coming week.