The country will see the return of wintry showers and freezing temperatures next week, forecasters have warned.
t comes as the last of the sleet and snow clears northwards across the country today, followed by widespread showers in most areas.
Met Éireann meteorologist Matthew Martin said outbreaks of rain will continue to spread north-eastwards today, and there will be a “clearance to a few showers from the southwest later”.
“It’s going to stay wet across Ulster and North Leinster into this evening,” he said.
“Highest temperatures today of 2C to 5C in the north and 9C to 12C further south as that milder air begins to gradually push northwards over the country, So tonight, any lingering rain or sleet will clear from the north coast to leave a mostly dry night with variable cloud cover and lows of 5C to 8C.”
Mr Martin said tomorrow “cloudy conditions will prevail” with scattered outbreaks of rain or drizzle and more persistent rain by the afternoon. The showers will move up over the country from the south during the day, while top temperatures tomorrow will range from 9C to 12C.
Mr Martin said the outlook is for “rather unsettled weather next week” with cold temperatures and wintry showers returning for a time.
“There’ll be rain across much of the country on Sunday night and Monday we’ll see further outbreaks of rain and it will turn it quite windy also, especially along western and northern coasts with gales developing at sea.”
“It will be rather mild initially with highs of 10C to 12C, but much colder weather will spread from the north later in the day. It will be very cold on Monday night with frost and widespread wintry showers and Tuesday looks set to be a cold day with highs of 4C to 7C, with a mix of sunny spells and wintry showers,” he added.
The Met Éireann website suggests that night-time temperatures will drop back to below freezing on Wednesday night.
Temperatures will be milder for Thursday and St Patrick’s Day, Friday, but showers of rain are forecast for both days and into next weekend.
