Forecast issued at: Friday 17th July 2026 16:00
Rain
There has been little to no rainfall across the country over the past week with accumulations below 0.2mm at all stations (between 0 and 1% of average). With this settled spell continuing, rainfall will remain well below average across the country through the week ahead. Most stations are forecast to see little or no rain over the coming week, with the most rainfall (3 to 6mm) expected in northwestern coastal areas.
Temperatures
Mean air temperatures were well above average over the past week, with the exception of northern areas where temperatures were close to normal. Temperatures ranged from 15.3 degrees in the north to 21.5 degrees in the mid-west, which is between 0.5 and 5.9 degrees above average. Mean soil temperatures are also well above normal, ranging from 17.7 degrees in the northwest to 24 degrees in the south. This is between 3.1 and 7.7 degrees above normal. While temperatures will gradually decrease over the the coming week, they will remain above normal for the south and east by 1 or 2 degrees. Temperatures will be closer to normal in the north and west. Soil temperatures will likely remain similar or could increase slightly in some parts.
Sunshine
It was much sunnier than average nationwide over the past week with sunshine amounts ranging between 239% and 290% of average. It was sunniest in the southeast with 105 hours of sunshine recorded at Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford (279% of average). Malin Head, Co. Donegal recorded the lowest amount of sunshine with 74.3 hours or 239% of its average. With the continued settled spell, sunshine amounts will be above normal for most parts of the country over the coming days, though there will be more cloud over the coming week compared to last week overall, especially in northern and northwestern areas.
Drying Conditions
Drying conditions will be very good over the coming days due to settled and warm conditions.
Spraying
There will be good opportunities for spraying over the coming days with dry conditions and light to moderate winds.
Field Conditions
Soils are trafficable at present in parts of the west and north with soil moisture deficits (SMDs) ranging from 20 to 50mm, with some restriction to growth. Grounds are hard elsewhere in the country with SMDs between 50 and 80mm generally and growth is either increasingly restricted or near drought. SMDs will increase nationwide over the coming week, ranging from 29mm in northern coastal parts to 87mm in parts of the southeast.
Further Comments
A condition orange high fire risk has been issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Arising from continued high temperature weather patterns a high fire risk is deemed to exist in all areas where hazardous fuels such as dead grasses and shrub fuels such as heather and gorse exist. Elevated fire risks are expected in all areas during this period but will be especially focussed on eastern regions. With soil moisture deficits increasing there is an added risk of underground peat fires on bogs where fires occur and an increased availability of larger fuel types across all land types.
