The week ahead will bring near normal sunshine totals in the west and north and above average amounts of sunshine in the east and south.
Rainfall totals will be well below average for the time of year up to Friday, while daytime temperatures will be 1 to 2c above normal at 8 to 11c.
There will be some cold nights early in the week, but overnight temperatures will rise beyond midweek.
High pressure, which has brought settled conditions to Ireland and Britain, will slowly sink east into the continent during the coming week allowing low pressure systems to move in from the Atlantic.
Overall rainfall totals later next week will be highest in the west and lowest in the east. There will be drier periods with sunshine in between the systems that track over or close to Ireland.
Similar conditions are expected to continue through to the middle of March. Temperatures for the coming fortnight generally will be slightly above average, while rainfall totals will be close to normal values for the time of year.
Sunshine levels have been well above average across Ireland during the last week as most locations have recorded between 30 and 50 hours of sunshine, which is 1.7 to 2.5 times higher than normal.
The sunny southeast fared best with Johnstown Castle in County Wexford recording 48 hours of sunshine (245% of average).
