Winter on the way: Time to wrap up as frost and snow forecast for end of the week
TEMPERATURES are set to drop as winter kicks in – with snow possible on high ground before the end of the week.
While mercury will remain at highs of 10C and 12C today and tomorrow, a cold front will set in overnight and Wednesday onwards will see wintry weather, with frost and highs of four and five degrees on Thursday.
Today will be a “gloomy, cloudy, drizzly” day with light breezes and outbreaks of rain; however it will remain mild at 6C to 9C, with tomorrow set to be mostly the same.
“Gloomy, cloudy, drizzly. A bit of a benign day – drizzly and damp,” said Met Éireann forecaster Gavin Gallagher of today’s weather.
“It’s the end of autumn, so it’s what you’d expect really. Tuesday will be almost the same, but a bit better as it’ll be less drizzly and temperatures will be 10C or 11C – an OK day.”
Cold
However, as the meteorological winter kicks in from December 1, conditions will turn wintry on Wednesday as a cold front comes in overnight.
“Wednesday morning, we’ll be waking up to a different type of weather and a different day.”
The fog will have cleared but it will be much cooler and more crisp, with heavier showers which will worsen in the north-west and on Atlantic coastal counties by the afternoon.
From Wednesday night, it will be cold enough that some showers will turn wintry over high grounds, with snow becoming a possibility in hilly and mountainous areas.
“It’s the first period of weather where it is cold enough for us to be aware that it’s turning quite wintry,” said Mr Gallagher.
Thursday will see the cold snap begin with temperature highs of 4C or 5C maximum, with a northerly breeze.
“It’ll be cold and it’ll continue right through the weekend and possibly the early days of next week,” he added.