After a damp start, Met Éireann forecasts that Monday morning will turn brighter before showers spread into the west and north. High temperatures of 13°C to 16°C will fall to between 7°C and 10°C at night.

Tuesday looks set to be the wettest and mildest day this week, with rain expected in all areas and temperatures ranging between 14°C and 16°C.

By contrast, Wednesday is forecast to stay dry and sunny all day before rain and drizzle move up from the south late at night.

Thursday will divide the country, with cloud and rain in the south while northern areas should remain dry and largely sunny.

The outlook for Friday and the weekend is for mainly dry weather, with breezes freshening on Saturday. Other than that, winds will remain light to moderate through the week.

Highest temperatures for the second half of the week should range between 11°C and 14°C or 15°C.

Farming forecast

The water table is very high after very wet weather last week and heavier soils are waterlogged. West Cork and south Kerry received up to three times as much rain as the weekly norm, the rest of Munster 2.5 times and the north west 1.5 times. It will be midweek this week before rainfall values reduce significantly.

Drying conditions will be variable over the week ahead, moderate at best in the drier interludes, but poor during periods of rain,

Mild temperatures are set to continue for most of this week, but Met Éireann forecasts that they will fall next weekend.

Sunshine is expected to catch up with normal levels on Monday and from Wednesday onwards after a particularly dull past week.

There will be limited opportunities for spraying overall in the week ahead, probably best on Wednesday and occasionally afterwards.