cold snap Ireland weather: Frosty and sunny New Year's Day

It will be a cold and frosty start to the New Year although it will remain dry in most areas with some sunny spells.

Scattered showers of rain or sleet will affect northern and western coastal counties before temperatures drop quickly again after dark.

A widespread frost will settle in early tonight under largely clear skies and it will stay dry in most parts, but a few showers will affect Ulster and Connacht, turning wintry as they move inland.

It will be another cold day tomorrow which will start out generally cloudy, with scattered showers, some wintry, sinking southwards over the country during the morning.

Met Eireann said: “Drier and brighter conditions will extend from the north by the afternoon, with sunny spells developing more widely.

It will stay cold through this weekend and into next week with widespread frosts at night with icy patches on untreated surfaces.”

The forecaster predicted: “Frost and icy stretches will be slow to clear on Sunday morning although a largely sunny day is expected in most places, although cloud and possibly a few showers may push in along eastern coasts during the afternoon.

Temperatures through the day will rise only just above freezing in some places, with afternoon highs of two to five degrees in a light to moderate northerly breeze.

A light to moderate northeast breeze will keep temperatures above freezing on the east coast on Sunday night, but it will also bring showers to eastern coastal counties, some possibly heavy with hail.

Monday will be dry with long spells of cold winter sunshine with frost and icy stretches slow to clear in the morning.

Cloudier periods will occur in the east and south, with scattered showers mainly affecting east Leinster. It will be very cold once again, with afternoon highs of just two or three degrees, but temperatures will be a little higher near coasts, and in eastern coastal counties.

Current indications suggest the cold and overall settled conditions look likely to persist through midweek, with the airflow potentially transitioning to a more westerly direction later in the week.

Download the Sunday World app

Now download the free app for all the latest Sunday World News, Crime, Irish Showbiz and Sport. Available on Apple and Android devices

Online Editors