The weekend will have unsettled, changeable weather however, an improvement is expected on Tuesday, Met Eireann says.

There will be a dry start to today (Friday) in many places today especially in the midlands and east, it says.

However Met Eireann says the showers in western parts will start to spread eastwards during the morning and will become heavy and even thundery during the afternoon.

These will start to ease off in the evening and there will be highs of 14 to 18 degrees in moderate to fresh and gusty southwest winds, it says.

On Friday night, apart from a few showers in western areas, Met Eireann says it will be largely dry with lows of 9 to 12 degrees in light to moderate southerly winds.

Tomorrow (Saturday) will be a similar day it says, dry and bright to start off but showers will develop as the day progresses.

Some will be heavy and there is the risk of isolated thunderstorms again with highs of 15 to 19 degrees in moderate southwest winds, Met Eireann says.

Saturday night will be largely dry with a few showers along western coasts and it says there will be clear skies with temperatures falling to between 7 and 10 degrees.

Looking to Sunday, Met Eireann says there will be another dry, bright start to the day however showers will develop during the afternoon and evening.

Parts of the west and the north will be most at risk, with some heavy falls likely, it says.

There will be highs of 14 to 18 degrees in light winds on Sunday it says and the showers will die out during the evening to give a dry night.

Outlook for next week

According to Met Eireann, on Monday showers will blow in over the country on the back of a cool northwest wind.

The showers will affect mainly the northern half of the country and there will be highs of 13 to 18 degrees, and it will feel cool on north facing coasts, it says.

High pressure will move in over the country on Tuesday which it says will give largely dry weather with just a few passing showers, but it will feel cool in the northerly winds.

Day time temperatures for next week, it says, will range from 12 or 13 degrees in northern parts to 16 or 17 along the south coast.