Met Éireann has issued an advisory for potato blight for the entire country over the coming days.

The national forecaster said that weather conditions conducive to the spread of potato blight are expected to develop particularly in the north and west from Tuesday evening (June 30) until Thursday morning (July 2).

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 said there will be limited opportunities for spraying today and tomorrow because of rain and showers.

Drier weather overall is expected on Wednesday, but it will be breezy and there will be some rain or drizzle at times, especially in northern areas.

Spraying opportunities are expected to improve later in the week.

Met Éireann

In its current outlook, Met Éireann said that over the next seven days, above normal rainfall is expected over the northern half of the country, with below normal amounts elsewhere.

During the coming week, temperatures will be closer to normal generally, but will be around 2°C above normal in parts of the east and northeast.

Following the recent spell of hot weather, soil temperatures are well above normal in most places, with mean values of 16.9° to 21.6°.