Farmers are struggling through wet weather at present and it is likely that there will be rain in the forecast for the rest of this week and into next week.

However, better weather may be on the way from about 17 April.

Chief hydrometeorologist at Met Éireann Eoin Sherlock told the National Fodder and Food Security Committee on Tuesday 9 April that there will be rain for the next 10 days or so, but high pressure will start to build after this.

Sherlock explained that there is high pressure down further south in the Atlantic and there are “tentative signs that will kick in in the next week or so”.

High pressure

He said the high pressure is trying to establish itself and he commented that once high pressure gets in place, it tends to stay around and is not easily moved.

He explained that Met Éireann is reasonably confident that high pressure will dominate for the second half of April and added that high pressure may slip away at the beginning of May as the influence from the Atlantic returns.

Wettest year on record

Paul Moore of Met Éireann explained that 2023 was the wettest year on record and the first half of the year was drier than the second half.

To put things into perspective, Moore stated that all weather stations across the country had 20 or more rain days during March 2024.

Fourteen of these had over 150% of their long-term average rainfall and two stations in the east had over 200% of their long-term average rainfall.

North Atlantic sea surface temperatures staying at high levels since March 2023 is playing a role in this as those temperatures stayed at record high levels all through the year, he commented.