The general public is not aware of how much the weather affects farmers' mental health, Alan O'Reilly from Carlow Weather has said, as he experiences an increased number of messages from concerned farmers.

With over 110,000 followers on Twitter and 56,000 followers on Instagram, O'Reilly uses these platforms to offer weather updates and forecasts for the country.

"I'm getting a lot of messages from farmers who are really feeling the pressure. I'm also getting messages from women who are married to farmers saying that they are worried about their husbands and that they're in a bad way as a result of the weather. It's the accumulative effect of the weather over the last couple of months. Farmers are telling me that their pits are empty and their tanks are full, tillage farmers can't get out on land either," O'Reilly told the Irish Farmers Journal.

In the last three to four weeks, an increasing number of farmers have contacted O'Reilly explaining the pressure they're under at farm level.

Managing farmers' expectations, he said, is difficult.

More rain coming

"They're looking for any sort of hope at all and you're trying to keep their spirits up but tell them at the same time what's realistic and what's happening. You're telling them that there's more rain coming and that there's no real sign of a good dry spell but at the same time telling them that it will break eventually, that the days are getting longer and trying to but a positive spin on it but it's hard. It's a bit like telling a bride that it's going to rain on her wedding day - it's never easy to convey to people," he said.

Since last July, it has been raining above average every month, O'Reilly explained, adding that it's possibly the worst spell of weather in the last 10 years.

"Especially around the south east and the south of the country where I would engage a lot with farmers - it has received a lot more rainfall than it normally would since July. For example, Johnstown Catle in Co Wexford has had above average rainfall every month since last July apart from November. And, November has about 90% of the average

For the next week, the forecast, he said, is mainly showery.

"In a way it's going to be a bit better that there's not going to be as much prolonged widespread rain - it's becoming a bit more localised."

Sunny spells

"There will be sunny spells, so there will be a bit of drying between showers but at the moment it's very much sunny spells and showers for the next week.

"It's hard to see any real settled spell of good high pressure in the next 10 days. There's nothing really there that would give me confidence to say that we are going to get a good settled spell in the next 10 days," he said.