Long range weather forecast for Ireland

A mix of sunny spells and showers with longer spells of rain at times will dominate Ireland’s weather for the coming week.

Atlantic systems will become squeezed between two areas of high pressure to the north and south of Ireland bringing widespread rain on Tuesday and again through Thursday night into Friday morning.

High pressure looks set to become more dominant during next week, however, as drier conditions return following an unsettled second half to April.

Tuesday’s rainfall will taper off overnight to leave a largely dry day on Wednesday with some scattered showers.

It will turn milder during Wednesday as temperatures rise to 13 to 16°C in a gentle to moderate breeze.

It will start dry everywhere on Thursday morning with spells of sunshine ahead of another frontal system bringing rain to the west by the afternoon. The rain will spread east through Thursday evening and into Friday morning.

The rain will clear east on Friday afternoon and evening.

The weekend will bring a mix of scattered showers and dry spells in southwest winds with maximum temperatures ranging from 13 to 17°C.

Turning higher and drier

High pressure is set to take charge from Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, bringing above average temperatures and drier than normal conditions.

There is a strong signal for high pressure to become persistent through the beginning of May, thereby raising the potential of a prolonged drier than average spell of weather.

This potential is borne out in the latest GFS weather model ensembles showing rising high pressure and reduced rainfall totals.

The return to drier conditions will unfortunately come too late for schoolchildren who have faced unsettled conditions throughout the Easter mid-term break.

More than 5 times the seasonal rainfall average has been recorded in County Cork during the past week. 73.9 mm was recorded at Roche’s Point, representing 535% of the normal rainfall amounts for the time of year.

The south and southeast were the wettest regions of Ireland during the past 7 days, while accumulations were lower further to the northwest.

22.1 mm was recorded at Belmullet in County Mayo, which is 132% of the normal value.