Mild weekend before conditions turn cold

Weather update from Met Éireann

It'll be cloudy to begin across much of Leinster and Munster with some light rain and drizzle. Mainly dry further north with some sunny spells and a few isolated showers. The rain and drizzle will clear southwards through the morning and early afternoon, and it will become dry for most with sunny spells, though there'll be a scattering of showers in Ulster. Feeling fresher than recently with afternoon highs of 8 to 11 or 12 degrees, coolest further north, in light to moderate northwest winds, fresher along the north coast.

It'll be mainly dry for a time tonight with clear spells, but with a few showers in Ulster. It'll become cloudier from the west overnight with some scattered outbreaks of rain moving in from the Atlantic, mainly affecting western areas. Lowest temperatures of 1 to 5 degrees generally, though less cold in western coastal parts in light to moderate westerly winds.

It'll be mostly cloudy tomorrow Sunday, with some scattered outbreaks of rain at times. A few bright or sunny spells are likely to develop though into the afternoon with some dry spells. However, later in the afternoon or early evening, more persistent rain will move into the northwest and west and will start to spread eastwards. Highest temperatures of 7 to 11 degrees, coolest in the north, in light to moderate mainly westerly breezes.

Sunday night will be cloudy with outbreaks of rain and it will become rather breezy for a time, especially in the west and south where winds will increase moderate to fresh westerly. Lowest temperatures generally of 4 to 9 degrees, but colder in Ulster with lows there of 1 to 4 degrees and winds will be lighter further north too.

Turning much colder next week, with an arctic airmass moving down across the country and with temperatures well below the seasonal normal.

An area of low pressure system will track eastwards across the country on Monday bringing some heavy rain, and also some sleet and the likelihood of some snow, mainly for Ulster. Then after that clears to the east on Monday night, the spell of very cold and wintry weather will follow and will then persist throughout much of next week.

Monday: An area of low pressure moves across Ireland on Monday bringing outbreaks of rain, heavy at times. There'll be some falls of sleet too, mainly further north, with some snow possible too, mainly for northern hills. Highest temperatures of 4 to 12 degrees (north to south) and breezy with moderate to fresh cyclonic variable winds, strong at times in coastal parts.

Monday night: The rain, sleet and snow will clear eastwards on Monday night with clear spells following and with a cold arctic airmass moving down over Ireland. So it'll turn very cold on Monday night with frost and ice forming as temperatures fall back to between -3 and +2 degrees, with winds becoming mainly northerly and decreasing light to moderate. A few wintry showers will follow into parts of the north and west.

Tuesday to Friday: The arctic airmass will persist for the rest of the working week, bringing a mix of sunshine and scattered wintry showers of rain, hail, sleet and snow. The showers will be most frequent across the north and parts of the west and southwest, but some will make their way further inland and to the east at times too. Some lying snow is expected, especially over the hills, but not exclusively. There will be widespread frost and ice at night, persisting by day in places, with some hazardous travelling conditions. It will be much colder than average for the time of year with typical daytime temperatures ranging from around 2 to 6 degrees whilst night-time temperatures will range from around -4 to zero degrees, possibly lower locally. Winds will be mostly moderate or fresh north to northwesterly, stronger at times in coastal parts of the north and west, so there'll be an added wind chill factor at times too.

Next weekend: There's uncertainty in the forecast for next weekend, with the possibility of some mild and very wet and windy weather but there's the possibility that the cold wintry snap will continue.