Thunderstorms early in the week followed by drier weather

The coming week will begin with scattered thunderstorms on Monday and Tuesday, followed by largely dry conditions on Wednesday and Thursday.

Scattered thunderstorms will develop across Leinster, Munster, and south Connacht during Monday, with a risk of localised heavy downpours and spot flooding.

Showers will form in inland Leinster by late morning and will spread to north Munster and south Leinster by late afternoon. The northern half of Ireland will remain dry with widespread sunshine.

The European Storm Forecast Experiment (ESTOFEX), an initiative by a team of European meteorologists, has issued a Level 1 storm warning for Ireland “for an augmented funnel/short-lived tornado and flash flood risk … for the noon/afternoon hours.”

Top temperatures will range between 14°C and 21°C on Monday, warmest in the west and coolest in the east due to an easterly breeze.

There will be further scattered heavy showers on Tuesday, with the risk shifting to the north Midlands, north Connacht, and Ulster. It will be drier and sunnier further south.

Dry conditions will follow for Wednesday and Thursday.

A slow transition to less settled conditions will begin on Friday and continue through the weekend, as temperatures dip back to the mid to high teens and winds become moderate westerly.

By Friday evening, outbreaks of light rain associated with a weak warm front will extend into the west and northwest, before moving east across Ireland on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Further rain or scattered showers will follow through the remainder of the weekend and into next week, which will bring some relief to struggling reservoirs and soil moisture deficits that have been inhibiting growth in many parts of Ireland.

There will be good dry spells at times next week, but winds will remain moderate westerly or south-westerly throughout.