Met Éireann has said that the weekend will be mainly dry and warm across the country with temperatures reaching up to 25°C in places.

Today (Friday, August 9) will bring sunny spells and a few scattered showers. Cloud will build from the southwest in the late afternoon bringing rain to southwest coastal areas by evening.

Highest temperatures of 17° to 22° in a moderate to fresh southwest wind, stronger along coasts and reaching near gale force along the northwest coast.

It will be mainly dry with clear spells tonight, some rain in the south and northwest. A mild night with lowest temperatures of 11° to 16° in light to moderate southwest breezes.

Saturday will be sunny with some isolated showers in Connacht and Ulster, dry elsewhere.

There will be moderate westerly breezes and highest temperatures of 18° to 23°, feeling warmest in Leinster and Munster.

Saturday night will be generally dry, some patchy drizzle is possible in the west and southwest. Overnight lows of 11° to 15°.

It will be mostly dry on Sunday morning with hazy sunshine in most areas, cloudier in Munster where there is the possibility of light rain.

The cloud will spread northwards with the possibility of heavier and persistent rain in the west in the evening.

It will be warm and humid with highs of 19° to 25° in mostly moderate southeasterly winds.

There will be heavy showers in the east on Sunday night, with a risk of thunderstorms in places. The rain in the west will clear eastwards leaving clear spells. It will be a mild night with the mercury staying between 13° to 16°.

On Monday, the weather will be dry and sunny in the west, some showers in the east. The showers will clear to long spells of sunshine across the country later in the day. Highest temperatures of 19° to 23°.

Met Éireann said that there is "considerable uncertainty" about the forecast for the remainder of the week, but it currently looks like there will be unsettled conditions as low pressure dominates.

Rainfall amounts over the coming week will be above average in the west and north, ranging between 1.5 to over 2.5 times normal for this time of year.

In the midlands and east it is expected to be drier than average.

Mean temperatures for the next 7 days will be average or above across the country, up to 2° above average in the east. Mean soil temperatures will continue above normal.

Drying conditions will be moderate to good for today and tomorrow away from the showers, but rain on Sunday will impact drying.

There will be opportunities for spraying outside showers today and tomorrow.

Wet conditions in the week ahead will result in no improvement to soil moisture deficits (SMDs) meaning that soils in a lot of Connacht and Ulster will remain saturated or waterlogged.

Elsewhere, SMDs will remain similar or deteriorate slightly with the driest soils in the east of the country.