Met Éireann issues status yellow snow-ice warning as temperatures drop

Felt a chill in the air today? There’s a reason — last night, Met Éireann issued a Status Yellow snow and ice warning for counties in the north and west, as temperatures dropped to as low as -1 degree.

The warning was issued for Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Longford, Louth and the Connacht counties, and is in place until 1 pm today. Met Éireann warned of falls of hail, sleet, some snow, and icy stretches, with a drop in temperatures across the country.

Change in the weather

The warning comes after a much warmer end to March, as temperatures climbed to the high teens in parts of the country over the last two weeks. April, however, is having a much colder start to the month, with last night’s temperatures dropping to between -1 and 3 degrees, and expected to climb to just 5 to 8 degrees today.

Related: Five engrossing books worth reading during the cold spell

The forecast

Today (Tuesday) will see frost and ice clearing throughout the morning, but it will be blustery and very cold, with a mix of sunny spells, showers (some of them wintry), and a risk of thunder. Top temperatures of 5 to 8 degrees, but it will feel colder with the added wind chill. Tonight will see showers becoming confined to western and northern coastal counties, but frost and ice will be widespread with temperatures of 1 to +3 degrees.

Another bright and blustery day is in store for tomorrow, but cloudy conditions with a risk of heavy rain and some sleet will move across Ulster and east Leinster later in the evening. Temperatures will be very low again with highs of just 5 to 9 degrees.

The outlook

The cold and showery weather will continue through the week, but thankfully, it looks likely to settle and become slightly warmer towards the weekend. Thursday and Friday’s forecast sees cloudy and possibly wet conditions spread across the country, but with temperatures slowly creeping up a couple of degrees across the two days. The forecast indicates that the weekend will turn drier and less cold, but still with some showers in the east and south of the country.

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