Weather forecast from various sources are all confirming the arrival of rain, sleet, and heavy snow across Ireland as the week unfolds with dipping temperatures - an unusual sight for the beginning of spring.
A status yellow ice warning is in place until 10:00 am this morning for the entire country as Met Eireann warns of “Hazardous conditions due to freezing temperatures including icy stretches on roads and paths. Sleet or snow flurries in Munster overnight.”
Wednesday will be the calmest of the remainder of the week, before a snow weather warning comes into effect for the following Northern counties: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry.
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The Met Office has warned of heavy snow which will have the potential to cause significant disruption on Thursday and Friday.
So as we brace ourselves for a winter chill, here is Met Eireann’s five-day forecast:
Today
A frosty start this morning with icy stretches and some lying snow in parts of the north and northwest. Falls of rain, sleet and snow in the south and southwest will clear away early in the morning to leave a cold, mostly sunny and dry day though cloud may linger in southern parts.
Wintry showers will affect the north and northwest. Highest temperatures of just 3 to 6 degrees. Light to moderate northerly winds will veer easterly in the afternoon and freshen in the southwest.
A very cold and frosty night. Dry for most with cloud in the south gradually building up over Munster and south Leinster with a few patches of rain, sleet and snow moving into the far southwest.
Lowest temperatures of -4 to 0 degrees, falling as low as -5 or -6 degrees in Ulster and the northwest. Light to moderate northeast to east winds, fresher in the southwest.
Wednesday
Another cold and frosty start to the day, especially in the north, with some ice in places. Largely cloudy over the southern half of the country for much of the day with outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow at times in southern areas.
Dry and sunny further north. Highest temperatures again of just 3 to 6 degrees in light to moderate easterly winds, continuing fresher in the southwest.
Outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow will push up from the southwest over much of the country though parts of Ulster will stay dry.
Lowest temperatures of -2 to +2 degrees generally, colder over Ulster temperatures falling to -3 or -4 degrees in parts. Moderate to fresh easterly winds.
Thursday
A wet day with outbreaks of sleet and snow over much of the northern half of the country with accumulations likely. Very cold there with temperatures struggling to get above freezing.
Milder further south with outbreaks of rain, heavy at times, with temperatures increasing to 6 to 10 degrees. Moderate to fresh easterly winds will back northeasterly later.
Outbreaks of sleet and snow will gradually become confined to the north and east later in the night with largely dry conditions developing elsewhere.
Lowest temperatures of -2 to +1 degrees generally, colder in the northwest, with northerly winds easing light to moderate.
Friday
Further outbreaks of sleet and snow will move into the southwest through the morning, extending to the rest of southern areas through the day. Mostly dry further north with some showers of sleet and snow.
Highest temperatures of 2 to 6 degrees in the south in mostly light northeasterly winds. Becoming mostly dry for the evening.
Mostly dry to start the night before outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow extend over much of the country. Lowest temperatures of -3 to +1 degrees generally, colder in the north where it will be driest.
Saturday
A wet day with widespread outbreaks of sleet and snow gradually transitioning to rain as temperatures increase through the afternoon, reaching 6 or 7 degrees in the north in the late afternoon and 12 or 13 degrees in the south.
As for Sunday and beyond, Met Eireann currently says it will be “unsettled with spells of rain and showers, heavy at times. Breezy at times too. Temperatures increasing through the rest of the weekend and early next week”.
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