Forecast issued at: Wednesday 31st December 2025 14:00
Rain
The past week has been dry with only trace amounts of rainfall recorded. 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 3.0 degrees at Gurteen, Co. Tipperary, which is 2.7 degrees below normal, to 6.5 degrees at Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, which is 0.2 degrees 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 3.4 and 6.3 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 8.5 hours (75% of normal) recorded there. The highest amount of sunshine was recorded at Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, with 20.2 hours or 176% of normal received there. There will be increasing amounts of sunshine in the coming days a clear Arctic airmass becomes established over Ireland. Sunshine amounts are likely to be above normal, especially in the east and south of the country.
Drying Conditions
Little rainfall is forecast over the coming days but it will be cold with frosty nights , 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.
