Weekend weather: strong gusts to ease but will remain windy

Weather warnings for strong winds in coastal areas (orange) and the rest of country (yellow) remain in place until 6pm on Friday.

Met Éireann is forecasting it to become less windy on Friday night, but it will still be breezy with scattered showers, with some becoming heavier later in the night.

Christmas Eve will start cool and bright, with well-scattered showers. However, outbreaks of rain will spread from the west later and it will become blustery again with fresh to strong southwest winds. Temperatures are forecast of 7°C to 11°C in the afternoon, which will rise further in the evening.

Saturday night will be mild and blustery, with rain at times and fresh, gusty southwest winds. Temperatures will stay around 12°C or 13°C overnight.

Christmas Day will start mild and breezy, with cloud and patchy rain in the west, with drier and brighter conditions in the east. However, rain will become widespread during the evening. Highest temperatures are forecast of 12°C or 13°C in fresh to strong southwesterly winds.

In this week’s beef management notes, Adam Woods takes a look at the right time to intervene at calving time, fodder budgets and taking a break from the farm.

Watching body condition score, managing cashflow and preparing for Christmas are this week’s topics in Aidan Brennan’s dairy notes.

Andy discusses rainfall levels, ploughing and soil testing in the tillage management notes.

Regulations on temporary movement of sheep, supplementing early lambing ewes and a reminder on keeping safety precautions to the fore feature in Darren Carty’s sheep notes.