Dreaming of a white Christmas? Forget it!

DREAMS of a white Christmas have been dashed as Met Éireann has forecast a milder day this year.

Temperatures on the day itself may even reach double digits, but with some cloudy and misty periods expected.

A Met Éireann forecaster, speaking to the Irish Daily Mail yesterday, said: ‘For Christmas Day and Stephen’s Day, there is a risk of some rain at times on the west and north coasts, but otherwise it is going to be dry and mild.’

Christmas Eve is also set to be dry and mild with sunny spells developing over the course of the day, and counties in the north and west receiving the best of the weather.

The forecaster said that this weekend is set to be ‘more of a mixed bag’, with rain expected to move into the country tonight and into tomorrow morning.

The forecaster said today will be ‘dry and bright in many areas’, with sunny spells and scattered showers in parts of the west, and added: ‘It will be breezy in the morning but winds will ease during the afternoon, then turning cold in the north tomorrow night.

‘[There will be] frost and fog for a time over Ulster, but then rain is going to become widespread from the south overnight.’

Met Éireann added that further rain will develop at times tomorrow, becoming confined to southern parts of the country.

With the weather expected to remain mild in the run-up to Christmas, AA Roadwatch is advising drivers that traffic levels will increase significantly towards the end of the week as a large volume of motorists travel to see family for Christmas.

The organisation said that even though traffic will tail off towards the end of the week, it will be Christmas Eve before any major drop-off will be evident.