Sunny spell to dry up at weekend

MAKE the most of the good weather, because the bad news is that it won’t last too long.

After nearly two weeks of dry weather, rain is forecast for the weekend. But the fine weather is here for a few more days at least.

"This particular spell has been exceptionally good," said Met Éireann forecaster Gerry Scully, yesterday. "We've had virtually sunny skies for several days now. These were generally countrywide. At the weekend, 17C was recorded in the south-west and parts of the mid-west. Temperatures everywhere have been in the mid-teens right through this fine spell. And there's been broken sunshine most days." A run of fine weather is unusual but not exceptional at this time of year, according to Mr Scully. However, he said March usually means dreary weather, with temperatures rising no higher than 10-12C.

"Around this time of the year, and St Patrick's Day especially, it's quite cold and showery. This year was the complete opposite, we had beautiful, dry, settled weather and it's still with us. But the settled weather is slowly breaking down. It's a gradual process; a major break won't come until Friday. But in the meantime, I think we will see an increase in cloud.

"Over the next few days while it will stay dry, there will be a mix of cloud and sunny periods rather than unbroken sunshine. In the south in particular, you could get a bit of drizzly rain. A few weak rain belts are expected to come up that could produce a few spots of rain. The main thing is that we're leaving the sunny skies, and more cloud will be building up and that will eventually lead to a more general break on Friday. But it will be pleasantly warm."

Farmers who suffered badly during record rainfall last year are taking full advantage of the fine spell.

"It's been remarkable weather for sowing crops cereals in particular," said Michael Miley of Teagasc, the farm development service.

"Following an extremely difficult autumn for the sowing of crops, this is a boost for farmers. The good weather has also made it easier for farmers to travel on winter-grown crops to apply fertiliser and carry out weed-control."