Will it snow in Ireland at Christmas? Weather data…

Will it snow in Ireland at Christmas? Weather data lists counties most likely to get the white stuff

New weather data has predicted which counties could be in for a white Christmas this year.

Earlier this week, Met Eireann placed the entire country under an ice weather advisory which is due to remain in place until Monday as temperatures plummet due to an arctic airmass coming our way.

While many remain hopeful for the arrival of snow, Legacy Communications took fate into its own hands and gathered over ten years' worth of data to determine which county is most likely to see it on Christmas Day.

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Researchers used TimeAndDate.com and Met Eireann to gather extensive data on weather conditions for each county over the past ten years to work out which counties were most likely to see snow.

According to the stats, Donegal and Tyrone are tied for the top spot - both coming out with a likelihood of 60% - while Westmeath came in third with 57.14%.

They were followed by Fermanagh at 50% and Clare, Laois, Longford, Offaly, Roscommon, and Wexford all making the top ten at 42.85%.

However, it's bad news for the likes of Waterford and Kerry who were tied for last place with a likelihood of 0%.

Weather expert Alan O'Reilly, of Carlow Weather, weighed in on the figures and said: "Generally if you are asking me if somebody was looking to take a bet on which county for a white Christmas you'd be looking at Eastern counties or Northern counties so Donegal or somewhere around Dublin.

"Dublin itself may be tricky, so Kildare, or Wicklow. If I was picking my Christmas county [for possible snow] it would probably be Donegal or Wicklow."

The weather expert also said that Ireland may be statistically long overdue for a white Christmas this year, but that doesn't mean it's going to happen.

"It's really hard to forecast the past two weeks. The weather models show the first two weeks of December look cold, there may be some mild brief spells but it does look cold," he said.

"When you look towards Christmas day then, people always talk about a White Christmas, it's very very difficult to forecast that. We haven't had a White Christmas since 2010, so statistically, we would have had one every six years, so we are long overdue for a White Christmas.

"That doesn't mean that we are going to see one but it does mean with the cold in December and maybe the chances are that we have a higher chance this year of a White Christmas if that cold can hang around."

The forecaster said there is one area where the likelihood of snow is much higher simply due to its location.

"Being very close to the coast does mean you are very close to the water which does mean that the air is modified and it might not be as cold on the coast.

"Very often in winter you might get snow in-land but you won't get snow on the coast because the air is being warmed by the sea."

Despite all of the weather models and statistics for white Christmases in Ireland, O'Reilly says "forecasting snow in Ireland is notoriously difficult.

"It's probably the hardest thing any weather forecaster in Ireland can do. One, because you need a very unique set of circumstances for snow in Ireland, you need temperatures down to below 0 really or at least below 2 degrees, but you also need moisture.

"Very often we would hear it was too cold to snow when we were growing up - that's because often when we do get the cold weather it's dry weather, so we don't get he precipitation that we need for snow."

While Christmas may still be a few weeks off, the potential for festive snow may be closer than we think.

"Just about anywhere in the country could see snow over the next seven to ten days but unfortunately it's really tricky trying to forecast snow," O'Reilly said.