After a prolonged period of dry weather, Met Éireann is forecasting some spells of rain in much of the country – but the dry weather won’t completely disappear.
Today, Friday, June 5, will be a cool and blustery day with a mix of sunny spells and showers. Some showers will be heavy and possibly thundery with a risk of hail. Highest temperatures will be 11° to 13° in Ulster and north Connacht, and 13° to 16° elsewhere.
Winds today will be mostly moderate to fresh northwesterly, but strong on exposed coasts, especially on Connacht and Ulster coasts.
It will be cold tonight, with lows of 4° to 7° in a fresh to strong northwesterly wind, with gales developing on northern and northwestern coasts.
Tomorrow morning, Saturday, June 6, the rain in the northern half of the country will be heavy, becoming lighter as it spreads further south with fresh to strong northwesterly winds. It will be a generally dull day as the rain clears to showers in the afternoon as the winds decrease moderate to fresh.
Highest temperatures tomorrow will be 12° to 15° generally, but it will be cooler along northern and western coasts.
Sunday, June 7, will be a mostly dry day with some sunny spells. Longer spells of sunshine will develop in the southern half of the country during the afternoon. Highest temperatures of 11° to 13° will be seen in the north and northwest and 15° to 18° elsewhere in moderate northerly winds.
It will continue dry throughout the night, with lows of 5° to 8° degrees in light to moderate northerly breezes.
It will be mostly dry and cloudy on Monday, June 8, with some sunny spells, but it will brighten up generally in the evening. Highest temperatures will be 11° or 12° in the north and northwest and 14° to 16° elsewhere in light northerly breezes.
Tuesday, June 9, will start cloudy in most areas with some sunny spells in the southeast. Rain will push in from the Atlantic, most persistent in the western half of the country, but becoming patchier as it moves eastwards overnight.
Highest temperatures on Tuesday will be 14° to 17°, coolest along Atlantic coasts with light to moderate southwesterly breezes becoming light westerly in direction overnight.
Wednesday, June 10, will be mostly dry with some rain and drizzle in the north and northwest. Highest temperatures will be 14° to 18°.
In its latest farming forecast, issued yesterday, Thursday, June 4, Met Éireann notes that drying conditions will be quite different in the week ahead, with conditions looking poor tonight and Saturday in many places due to rainfall. Sunday and Monday look to be reasonably good days for drying.
Likewise, opportunities for spraying will become more limited over the coming days.
Soil
With the exception of the far south and southwest, soil moisture deficits currently range between 50mm and 80mm with significant restrictions to growth.
The far south and southwest of Munster are less dry, with soil moisture deficits of around 40mm. There may be a slight improvement in these figures in northern areas during the week, with some significant rainfall forecast for parts of the north.