The chills are due back and expect March to be mad low

CHILLIER weather is forecast again this week, amid predictions that March could bring a cold snap.

Bookies are offering odds that March will be the coldest on record as temperatures are set to drop in the week ahead.

Current indications by Met Éireann suggest that the latter half of this week will see the return of wintery showers, with the likelihood of hail, sleet and hill snow in some parts of the country.

The forecaster’s seasonal outlook states that ‘March has the possibility of colder outbreaks from the north and northeast at times’.

However, the March, April and May period is predicted to have ‘above average’ temperatures overall.

Bookmakers Ladbrokes are now offering offs of 4/1 that next month will be the coldest March on record, while odds that it snows this month stand at 1/2. Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: ‘If Met Éireann’s latest reports are to be believed, the winter freeze is set to continue into March, and the latest odds suggest it could be the coldest month ever.

‘While we make it just 1/2 that we see snowfall this month,’ she said.

Met Éireann predict that tonight will be mostly dry and frosty with temperatures to drop to lows of 0C to 4C. Bright spells are forecast for tomorrow morning, which will be replaced by outbreaks of rain and drizzle.

The night will be wet and blustery with spot flooding in places.

Thursday will be significantly cooler as a whole, while Friday will be ‘cold and wintry’ with widespread squally showers and some hail, sleet and hill snow. It will remain cold and unsettled over the weekend.