Ireland is set to be walloped by rare ‘thundersnow’ as an ominous cold blast moves in.
It comes after the country was battered by three storms in a week, with fears another could hit this weekend.
Before then, cold air is due to plunge down over Ireland from Wednesday night with Met Eireann forecasting sleet, snow, thunderstorms, hail and subzero temperatures.
This means that some areas could be in for a rare outbreak of ‘thundersnow’ which happens when thunderstorms - which are more common in summer months - form in wintry conditions.
When the weather is cold, the rain associated with a thunderstorm can fall as snow and therefore is called ‘thundersnow’.
‘Thundersnow’ is not meteorologically different from thunder in the summer, but rather than hail or rain, there is snow which can affect the acoustics of the thunder.
In its latest forecast for Wednesday night, Met Eireann said: “It will turn much colder early on Wednesday night as rain clears to the east.
“Showers will follow behind, falling as sleet and snow in places. Chance of isolated thunderstorms as well as hail, with lowest temperatures of -2C to 1C allowing for some frost and icy stretches to develop in mostly moderate southwest winds.”
The cold weather is due to continue into Thursday, with more ‘thundersnow’ possible.
A national forecaster said: “A cold and windy day with sunny spells and scattered blustery showers, some falling as hail, sleet and snow on higher ground. Some of these showers may also be heavy and thundery especially in the west and north.
“Highest temperatures of 3C to 7C, coldest in the north, with an added wind chill factor in strong and gusty westerly winds.
“On Thursday night, wintry showers will mostly become confined to the northwest and north overnight with good dry clear spells developing elsewhere. Lows will fall to 0C to 4C, with a touch of frost possible as winds ease.”
Ireland’s set for a relatively normal day of weather on Friday, before the threat of another storm over the weekend.
A Met Eireann forecaster said: “Friday will be mostly dry with good sunny spells in the morning but cloud will increase in the west later, bringing patchy drizzle. Highest temperatures of 7C to 10C in light winds.”
Weather expert Alan O’Reilly has been sharing early maps of a potential new storm this weekend.
He wrote on his Carlow Weather Twitter account: “A windy week ahead and some weather models are picking up the risk of another storm for the weekend. Long way off in weather forecasting terms so a lot of uncertainty but one to keep an eye on.”
He added: “The conveyor belt of low system keep coming with some strong winds over the week especially Thursday but that nasty one for Sunday night looks to stay well out to the Northwest on latest charts as you can see here.”
Met Eireann’s current forecast for the weekend is: “Saturday will be mostly cloudy and breezy with patchy drizzle. Afternoon temperatures of 7C to 10C with fresh to strong and gusty southerly winds.
“Rain is expected to move into the west on Saturday evening, tracking eastwards across the country on Saturday night and turning heavy at times.
“The rain is forecast to clear early on Sunday, leaving a mostly dry day with sunny spells, although wintry showers are possible in the northwest. Highest temperatures of 7 to 9 degrees with fresh southwesterly winds easing.”
