A shock blast of freezing weather could follow Ireland’s ‘mini-heatwave’.
Ireland has been enjoying a week of blue skies and above-average temperatures, which is set to continue into the weekend.
Met Eireann says temperatures could reach 17C in parts on Saturday and Sunday, with conditions staying “dry and pleasant day with spells of sunshine”.
READ MORE: Day-by-day weekend weather forecast as Met Eireann pinpoints best counties for sunshine
However, the public’s being urged to enjoy it while they can as a drastic change is forecast for next week.
The national forecaster warned: “A change expected on Wednesday as cooler air blankets the country with scattered showers feeding down throughout the afternoon and evening.
“Noticeably colder too with highs of 6C to 9C in a brisk northerly wind.”
It comes as some long-range weather models - which are subject to change - show snow blanketing the country.
Weather expert Alan O’Reilly shared the charts on his Carlow Weather Twitter account, saying, “it looks like a bad April fools joke”.
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He said: “The latest ECMWF weather model update looks like a bad April fools joke with a real blast of cold to start April and even a risk of some wintry falls.”
In an update this morning, he added: “Latest ECMWF charts continue with the cold blast next week but GFS weather model doesn’t show it as cold so it’s wait and see for now.”
In the meantime, Ireland’s ‘mini-heatwave’ is set to continue into the weekend.
A heatwave in Ireland is defined as five consecutive days where maximum temperatures are 5C above the average. With the average March high temperature of 12C it looks like Ireland could be in for an early Spring heatwave.
Here’s a day-by-day breakdown of the weekend weather forecast.
Saturday
Met Eireann says: “Mist and fog will clear on Saturday morning and it will be another dry and pleasant day with spells of sunshine. However, it is possible that fog will linger along some coasts through the day.
“Highest temperatures of 13 to 17 degrees in a light breeze.
“Staying dry into the evening with good long clear spells but a little more cloud will develop along the east coast. The winds will be light too allowing for mist and fog to form with lows of 1 to 4 degrees.”
Sunday
The national forecaster continued: “Any mist and fog will clear early on Sunday morning as good long sunny spells develop across the country. It will stay mainly dry too but a little bit of cloud will bubble up in the west.
“Highs will reach 13 to 17 degrees with light southeasterlies.
“In the evening the clear skies will allow some mist and fog patches to form. Overnight lows of 1 to 4 degrees with light winds.”
Monday
Met Eireann continued: “Another calm and dry start with the morning sun clearing away any lingering mist or fog. It'll be a day of cloudy periods and sunny spells but there will be one or two isolated showers developing too.
“Winds staying rather light with highs of 13 to 16 degrees. The showers will clear in the evening but a little cloud will linger into the night with lows of 2 to 5 degrees.”
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