Chill is on the way... and watch out for ‘thundersnow’

A CHILL is on the way – with the added possibility of a rare ‘thundersnow’ event.

Met Éireann says a cold spell will end the recent run of mild weather, with temperatures set to dip below zero tomorrow night.

And it warns some areas may well be hit with ‘thundersnow’ which happens when thunderstorms – which are more common in summer months – form in wintry conditions.

Before that, today will be cold and bright with sunshine and showers most frequent in the west. Some of the showers will be heavy with hail and a chance of thunder.

There’ll be some sleet showers over hills and mountains, says Met Éireann, and it will be noticeably cooler than recently with afternoon highs of 5C to 8C.

It will be cold with further showers tonight, especially in the west and northwest, some heavy with hail, with sleet possible over high ground. Lowest temperatures of 0C to 3C, with a touch of frost.

Tomorrow will be another fairly cool day with sunny spells and showers. Some of the showers will again be heavy with hail and a chance of thunder with occasionally gusty winds.

Showers will become confined to coastal parts of the west and north for a time early tomorrow night, but the showers will start to spread elsewhere again overnight.

Some falls of sleet or snow are possible over higher ground. It will be cold with some frost and ice possible as temperatures fall to between -1C and 3C.

Saturday will bring a lot of dry weather overall, with some sunshine. There’ll still be a scattering of showers around with afternoon highs of 7C to 10C and mainly light to moderate winds.

Outbreaks of rain and drizzle will push up from the southwest on Saturday night. Lowest temperatures of 1C to 3C in the north and northeast, 4C to 7C elsewhere in freshening southeasterly winds.

On Sunday, rain and drizzle in the south will clear southern counties in the morning, with just scattered showers affecting western, northern and eastern coastal counties during the afternoon.