PARTS of the south and south west will officially become areas of drought this week as the warm, dry spell continues, with no rain expected until Friday at the earliest.
Cork, Kerry and Waterford are among the locations which have not seen rainfall in 13 consecutive days, just two days short of the number regarded by Met Eireann as amounting to drought conditions.
Rainfall throughout the country is down significantly on previous years with Rosslare reporting only 15 per cent of normal levels since the beginning of March, Cork just 18 per cent and Valentia, Co Kerry, 22 per cent.
The north has been closer to the average for the time of year with 75 per cent of normal rainfall at Malin Head.
The prolonged dry spell is a result of the continued presence of a large anticyclone which is to move north west towards Iceland during the week. Cooler, cloudier weather is expected towards the end of the week but not before a few more days with temperatures averaging between 12 C and 15 C.
Weekend temperatures peaked at almost 18 C despite significant cloud cover. The midlands fared best yesterday with clear blue skies and temperatures of about 17 C.
According to Met Eireann the dry conditions are "exceptional" for this time of the year. "Temperatures are by no means close to record levels. But in the next couple of weeks records could be broken in terms of dryness," said Mr Vincent O'Shea.
The meteorological service repeated warnings about the risk of forest fires.
