Ireland weather: Status Yellow ice warning as Met Éireann warns of Arctic blast

A Status Yellow ice warning for the entire country comes into force at 6pm on Monday and will last until 10am on Tuesday as a bitterly cold Arctic airflow pushes down from the north.

Motorists and pedestrians have been warned to expect hazardous conditions on roads and paths due to the freezing temperatures and ice.

However, conditions in the UK are expected to be even more severe, with warnings of snowstorms and -15C ­temperatures there for the days ahead.

Met Éireann forecaster Mark Bowe said snow showers here were expected to mainly affect the northern half of Ireland.

“Because it’s an ice warning, we are expecting winter showers with plenty of icy stretches as temperatures plummet down to -3C/-4C,” he said.

He said temperatures would “drop significantly” on Monday with afternoon highs struggling “to reach high single figures”.

Meanwhile, Monday night’s temperatures could “get down to -3C or even -4C.

“It will be a change from the weather we had recently,” he said. “We had high pressure dominating our weather for a long time, we had quite mild weather through February.”

The northern half of the country can expect to see snowfall, especially on high ground.

“So there will be a couple of showers peppering the northern part of the country, especially in places around Donegal,” Mr Bowe said.

“On the higher ground, some showers may fall with sleet or snow. But for the rest of the country it’s a case of icy stretches and overnight frost with the temperatures going down to -3C or -4C.”

Monday itself is starting off with hazy, sunny spells, but showers in the north will turn into rain and spread from the north to the rest of the country in the afternoon. It will turn cold, with temperatures ranging from 4 to 5 degrees in the north to a milder 6 to 9 degrees in southern areas, before turning much colder overnight.

The cold temperatures will continue on Wednesday, with night-time temperatures falling below freezing.

Mr Bowe said: “It will recover just a little bit on Wednesday night but they will touch zero or below zero especially in northern parts of the country.”

While there is some uncertainty around the forecast in the longer term, after the cold front clears midweek, it is expected to turn wet.