Motorists are facing another shower of Saharan red dust covering their cars as the usually rare weather event strikes for the second time in months.
It was only in March past that drivers last found their vehicles blanketed in the coarse red sand-like dust.
Forecasters are now predicting another occurrence of the phenomenon that mixes desert dust with rain and leads to showers looking red – which is dubbed blood rain.
Read More: Ireland could see rare 'blood rain' weather thanks to Saharan dust cloud as thunderstorms forecast
They say it will happen Friday or Saturday when the huge plume of Saharan dust - which is currently on the move from north Africa - travels 2,500 miles to Ireland.
Met Eireann is predicting heavy rain for many parts of the country over the weekend as a period of unsettled weather dominates.
East coast areas like Dublin are set for thunderstorms with hailstones and localised flooding today, according to the State weather service.
But sunny conditions with pleasant temperatures in the mid-teens will emerge in the capital over the weekend.
Met Eireann’s latest bulletin stated: “Rain tomorrow morning will clear to sunny spells and scattered heavy blustery showers.
“Some thundery falls are likely across eastern counties later with possible hail and spot flooding.
“Showers will ease and become confined to western coasts tomorrow night and it’ll be dry for a time with clear spells.
“Lowest temperatures of 7 to 9 degrees Celsius with light to moderate southwest winds.
“There’ll be further afternoon showers [tomorrow], most frequent in the west and north, and becoming confined to the west coast overnight.
“Highest daytime temperatures 13C to 17C in light to moderate southerly winds.
“The lower values will be in the north, and falling back to 10C or 11C overnight.
“There’ll be a few further showers on Sunday with temperatures up to 18C with light to moderate southerly winds, freshening through the day.
“The unsettled weather continues into next week with further showers or longer spells of rain on Monday with temperatures of 13C to 15C.
“Moderate winds will become north-westerly for a time. Current indications suggest no substantive change to the end of the outlook period.”
When the Sharan red dust last reached Ireland, it also travelled as far north as Denmark.
Queues formed at car washes across the country as motorists rushed to clear the potentially damaging red dust.
Car paint experts told the Irish Mirror in March that the abrasive red dust could damage vehicles’ paintwork if scrubbed off on some cars, especially those with a matt or satin finish that cannot be polished.
Garage forecourts experienced an upswing in business as cars lined up after the bizarre so-called blood rain dust cloud covered much of Europe.
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