Photo by A status orange forest fire warning has been issued for the entire country.
The advisory - issued by the Department of Agriculture - will be in place until Saturday evening.
The public is urged to be extra vigilant and not to light any fires in forests or on open land.
Pat Neville from Coillte explains why the warning has been issued, despite record rainfall in March:
"People might think that the height of the summer - July and August - would be the highest risk for forest fires, but it's often this time of the year, in early spring, where last year's vegetation is still on the ground and becomes brown and dry and very flammable."
"With the weather conditions that we have forecast for the next few days - dry and windy - even a small fire in the outdoors can get out of control very quickly."
