A wet, unsettled bank holiday weekend is in store for the country with contrasting temperatures in different regions, according to Met Eireann.
This morning will see patchy rain confined to the south-west of the country with a mix of sunny spells and scattered showers elsewhere.
Cloud will build from the south during the afternoon and outbreaks of rain affecting the south-west will edge northwards, moving in across most of Munster and south Leinster during the evening.
Maximum temperatures will reach 7° to 10° in fresh to strong westerly winds.
Met Eireann has issued a Status Yellow snow-ice warning for Co. Donegal, which will come into effect from 12:00am tonight and remain in force until 12:00pm tomorrow.
Drying conditions are expected to be moderate to poor over the coming days due to above average rainfall, while spraying conditions will be poor due to breezy, unsettled conditions.
These may improve next week as conditions become more settled.
Regarding field conditions, poorly-drained soil is currently waterlogged and most other soils are saturated.
Early next week, poorly-drained soils are expected to be saturated and light, moderately or well-drained soils will become trafficable.
Rain will extend nationwide tonight with heavy bursts expected, especially across the south-west and west with the risk of some spot flooding here.
A large contrast in temperatures will be felt overnight with lows of 0° to 2° in northern counties but 9° or 10° in the south.
Tomorrow
It will be wet and blustery across much of the country tomorrow morning with spells of rain and strong and gusty south-west to west winds.
The rain will ease in the afternoon with a clearance to sunshine and blustery showers following, some with hail and thunder.
Colder air will feed southeastwards across the country during the day with highest temperatures ranging from 3° or 4° in the north-west to 11° or 12° in the south-east.
It will be cold and breezy tomorrow night with clear spells and scattered showers – some wintry with hail and thunder possible near Atlantic coasts.
There will be fresh to strong west or north-west breezes with minimum temperatures overnight of -1° to +3° .
Outlook
St. Patrick’s Day looks set to be a cold and blustery day with sunny spells and passing showers, some with hail and thunder, according to Met Eireann.
Highest temperatures will peak at 7° to 9° in fresh and gusty west to north-west winds.
Showers will retreat to Atlantic coastal areas on Sunday night with good clear spells developing elsewhere, and lowest temperatures of 1° to 4°.
It is expected to be a rather cloudy day on Monday with scattered patches of light rain or drizzle and highest temperatures of 8° to 11° in moderate westerly winds.
It will be mostly cloudy overnight with a few spots of rain or drizzle and lows of 4° to 7°.