A cold windy day with snow on high ground
Weather Update
A cold windy day with temperatures of 6 to 9 degrees. There'll be widespread showers, heavy at times, and falling as sleet and snow over hills and mountains, particularly in the north. Northwest to north winds will be fresh to strong and gusty and will reach gale force on coasts.
Temperatures tonight will fall to between zero and plus 2 degrees and the strong winds will continue. There will be strong gales on the Irish Sea with fresh to strong northwest to north winds inland. Showers will become mainly isolated to coastal regions for a time with long clear spells elsewhere, later on the showers becoming more widespread through Connacht and Ulster and some will fall as sleet and with snow over hills and mountains.
The strong winds and cold weather continue through Saturday with temperatures during the day ranging between 3 and 6 degrees. There'll be further showers, again some of sleet, mainly around coastal areas and a little more widely through Ulster and Connacht with longer sunny spells in Munster and Leinster. The winds will begin to ease later in the day.
Winds will become mainly light westerly during Saturday night with lowest temperatures of between minus 2 and plus 2 degrees occurring early in the night. It'll be dry at first with clear weather. Cloudier conditions will develop in the west with rain along western coasts early in the night, slowly spreading through Munster and Connacht. The east will stay dry and cold with temperatures rising in the west.
The east of the country will stay cold on Sunday, with higher temperatures returning to western parts. It'll be cloudy and dull with patchy rain for a time then it will brighten up with sunny spells, the best in the east. Winds will be light southerly or variable in the east and will freshen over Munster and Connacht from a northwesterly direction. Temperatures will be between 9 and 11 degrees in Munster and Connacht and between 3 and 5 degrees in Leinster and Ulster. Sunday night will be cold with temperatures near to or below freezing in the east and north and not below 5 degrees in Munster and Connacht.
Temperatures on Monday will range between 7 degrees in the east and 10 degrees in the west. Light westerly winds will freshen overnight. There'll be showers along coasts and in the north with sunny spells elsewhere and it will be mainly dry on Monday night when temperatures will fall to between 3 degrees in the east and 7 degrees in the west.
Tuesday will be mainly dry with showers on coasts at first, becoming widespread later. Afternoon temperatures will be 11 or 12 degrees for all provinces with a moderate to fresh westerly wind. Temperatures overnight between 3 and 5 degrees.
The further outlook to the middle of next week is for fresh northwest winds moderating west to southwest with showers mainly on coasts and temperatures between 7 and 11 degrees generally.