Winter hits us hard... all of a sudden

THE year is getting off to a rather chilly start as Met Éireann forecasts snow, sleet and hail showers this week.

It also warned of a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) – the weather event that led to 2018’s infamous ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap – in the coming weeks.

It is uncertain how the development will affect Irish weather because of its already blocked pressure setup. Met Éireann said every SSW is different and less than half lead to colder conditions in Ireland.

The sudden shift in weather caused Storm Em main

‘Cold air flowing in from Norway’

February 2018; however, an SSW in January 2019 had no significant impact.

Today will be very cold as frost and ice clear slowly and persist in some areas. There will be some sun, but rain, hail, sleet and snow will fall in Leinster and east Munster.

Tonight will be bitterly cold as severe frost and ice takes hold in many areas and temperatures range from marginally above freezing to -6C across the country. Most areas will be dry and clear, but it is predicted scattered showers will affect east Leinster.

Meanwhile, tomorrow will see a number of sunny spells, but will be another cold day as frost and ice clear slowly in most places.

Rain will start i n the evening in the northwest and will spread across the country through the night, falling as sleet or snow in some areas.

The rain, sleet and snow will continue into Thursday afternoon with some sunny spells and wintry showers in Ulster and Connacht. The night will be cold and dry with severe frost and icy patches widespread.

Friday will be cold and dry with sunny spells and more frost to come.

Over the weekend, temperatures will r i se to between 3C and 7C on Saturday and 5C and 8C on Sunday, it is predicted.

A Met Éireann forecaster said: ‘At t he moment there’s a high pressure that’s centred in the North Sea Norway area, and that is feeding in a northeasterly airflow over to us, so it’s a cold air flow feeding in scattered wintry showers.’