Forecast issued at: Tuesday 30th December 2025 12:00
Rain
The past week has been dry with rainfall amounts well below normal across the country over the last seven days. Amounts ranged from 0mm at a number of stations to 1.8mm at Cork Airport (6% of normal). High pressure will continue to dominate for much of the coming week, bringing largely dry conditions for a time, though there'll be some rain, drizzle and showers later in the week, which will turn wintry at times, especially further north. Precipitation amounts will be low generally, but a little higher in some northern parts later in the week. There'll be little or no precipitation in Munster and Leinster, and with only between 1mm and 7mm forecast, which equates to less than 20% of normal. In parts of Connacht and Ulster, up to 24mm can be expected, equating to around 75 to 90% of normal.
Temperatures
Mean air temperatures were generally near or below normal over the past week, though they were higher than normal in parts of the east. Mean air temperatures ranged from 3.4 degrees at Gurteen, Co. Tipperary, which is 2.3 degrees below normal, to 6.8 degrees at Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, which is half degree above normal. The coming week will turn even colder with some frosty nights. Overall, mean air temperatures will range between 0 and 5 degrees, which is 2 to 4 degrees below average for most. Mean soil temperatures over the past seven days ranged between 3.7 and 6.6 degrees and are expected to decrease over the coming week.
Sunshine
Sunshine amounts varied through the country over the past week, but with many areas getting either close to or above normal amounts and some areas getting well above average. However, it was duller in parts of the east. The least amount of sunshine was recorded at Casement aerodrome, Co. Dublin, with 6 hours (53% of normal) recorded there. The highest amount of sunshine was recorded at Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, with 20.2 hours or 177% of normal received there. It'll generally become cloudier for the next couple of days, and while some sunshine will return at times next week, it'll be duller at times with fog or freezing fog likely to linger in some areas by day midweek and with a little rain, drizzle and some showers later on in the week. So overall sunshine amounts are expected to come in around average to a little below over the next 7 days.
Drying Conditions
Little rainfall is forecast over the coming days but it will be often overcast and cold, so drying conditions will remain fairly poor overall.
Spraying
There'll be good spraying opportunities over the coming days with mainly dry conditions and light to moderate winds expected.
Field Conditions
Field conditions have improved in recent days with trafficability beginning to be possible in well and moderately drained soils. Poorly drained soils remain saturated or waterlogged. A slight deterioration is expected over the coming days with slightly more precipitation forecast, mainly in northern and northwestern parts.
Forecast maps and meteograms can be found on Blight Forecast.
