Half a foot of snow could fall this week as 'Mini Beast from the East' hits

(Above) Bellview Heights in Mullingar this morning.

Up to half a foot of snow could fall locally this week as the “Mini Beast from the East” sends temperatures plummeting.

According to local meteorologist Cathal Nolan from Ireland’s Weather Channel, up to 10cm of snow could fall in the Mullingar area today, Tuesday, followed by heavier snow falls on Thursday and Friday.

Day time temperatures are forecast to be around zero degrees, while a significant wind chill will make is seem a lot colder.

Night time temperatures tonight, Tuesday, and Wednesday night could drop to as low as -5 or -6 degrees Celsius and any snow falling is likely to stay around until at least the weekend.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner yesterday, Mr Nolan said that while it is “hard to tell”, it seems likely that this week’s weather front won’t be “quite as bad” as in 2018 when The Beast from The East caused havoc.

“It could be a Baby Beast, perhaps. That’s what we are looking at, now at the start of the week.

“Certainly the heaviest and most disruptive snow is likely to come on Thursday and Friday rather than earlier in the week. Mind you, five or 10 centimetres of snow in Ireland can cause a lot of disruption.

“Thursday and Friday are when we’ll see the greatest risk of heavy snow on a much larger scale. That will cause disruption.”

While there will be a chilly easterly wind blowing for much of the week, winds will pick up on Thursday and could lead to drifting in places.

Mr Nolan says that Mullingar is one of the areas “most of risk” of heavy snowfalls this week.

“I would say by Tuesday evening there should be a minimum of about 5cm in Mullingar and parts of Westmeath.

“It could then be worse on Thursday and Friday with an additional 10 or 15cm of snow on top of that.

“With that level of snow you are talking about close to half a foot of snow at that stage. That could cause quite a bit of destruction,” Mr Nolan said.