It's been 12 years since Irish people woke up to a blanket of snow on Christmas morning - but some long range predictions suggest we could be in for the ultimate festive snow day in 2022.
While Met Eireann is predicting a mild and largely pleasant October, one long range forecaster in the UK has predicted very cold weather there which could make it to our shores before Christmas. Some forecasters there are predicting temperatures dipping as low as -8 degrees while bookmakers Coral are odds-on for a White Christmas across the Irish Sea amid the freezing forecast.
Coral spokesman John Hill said: “The odds say it will be all white on the big day. Big chills are coming early this year.”
Read more: Nestle scrap shiny Quality Street wrappers ahead of Christm as
While Ireland and the UK don't always share the same weather conditions - they enjoy warmer summers for example - their last White Christmas was the same as hours during the big freeze of 2010. Forecasters are watching a rare “long La Nina” weather phenomenon which could cause our weather to take a nosedive in late autumn or early winter, according to the BBC .
It was actually the Australian Bureau of Meteorology that spotted the triple-dip La Niña forming in the Pacific for the third consecutive year and it could have major impacts on weather patterns worldwide. La Niña occurs naturally and essentially results in a widespread cooling of ocean surface temperature.
It can result in more rain in normally dry countries like Australia, worryingly dry conditions to parts of the already drought-ridden East Africa and colder and stormy conditions here in Ireland and the UK. This year is just the third time since records began that the world has seen three consecutive La Niña weather events. Forecasters here and abroad will be watching it closely as it develops.
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