Breezy, cloudy with sunny spells

Though there may be some sunny spells in store today the outlook over the weekend is for “unseasonably cold weather” Met Éireann has warned.

Today will be breezy and generally cloudy with just occasional sunny spells. Many areas will hold dry but there will be scattered showers through the day. A band of more persistent rain will push into the north and northwest later this afternoon, gradually spreading southeastwards this evening. Highest temperatures of 7 to 10 degrees in moderate to fresh and gusty westerly winds, strong at times on north and west coasts.

The band of rain will continue to move southwards tonight. It will become lighter and patchier as it does so before clearing to the south by morning. Clearer and colder conditions will follow behind with scattered showers, some of which will turn wintry at times in the north. Lows of -2 to +1 degrees generally, but less cold over Munster and south Leinster with lows of 2 to 4 degrees there. Some frost will form as winds ease light westerly or variable.

Tomorrow, Friday, will be a colder day with sunny spells and scattered showers, some turning heavy with hail and the risk of isolated thunderstorms. Some showers will turn to sleet over the northern half of the country, with snow on higher ground later in the day. Highest temperatures of 5 to 9 degrees, coldest over Ulster, in a light to moderate north to northeast breeze.

There will be a return to some unseasonably very cold weather this weekend, with an arctic airmass becoming re-established over the country.

There'll be plenty of sunshine and northerly winds will be mostly light overall, but there'll be some wintry showers, with these most widespread across the country on Saturday.

The showers will become more isolated on Sunday as pressure builds temporarily from the west. It will be extremely cold by night, with widespread sharp, locally severe, frosts.

While temperatures will continue to remain below average early next week, it will become less cold from Monday, as winds switch to a southwesterly direction and we'll lose those widespread night-time frosts. Low pressure will gradually become more dominant and it will be breezy at times with some rain or showers, especially for the west and north.