Anyone dreaming of a White Christmas will have to travel to the north of Scotland at the very least if all their dreams are to come true according to forecasters at Met Éireann.
The better – if less festive – news is that wet and blustery weather which will descend over Ireland over the next 48 hours is likely to lift ahead of the big day with bright and settled Christmas Day conditions on the cards.
Separately, Met Éireann have issued a status yellow fog warning for Thursday night for 22 counties, saying conditions will be or treacherous with dense patches in parts. The counties affected in include: Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Laois, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Westmeath, and Wicklow.
Met Éireann forecaster Deirdre Lowe told The Irish Times that the cold snap of recent weeks was a distant memory and the chances of significant snow falling in Ireland or even a hint of seasonal frost over the days ahead were virtually nil.
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She did say that some cold weather sweeping down from the north might flirt with northern counties as darkness falls on Christmas Day with an outside chance of a sprinkle of the white stuff on the hills of Donegal ahead of St Stephen’s Day.
“The cold weather has been trying to move down from the north but I don’t think it will make it,” Ms Lowe said. “Maybe if you live in the north of Scotland, you might have a white Christmas but in Ireland, Christmas Day is looking like it’s going to be benign.”
She said temperatures of between 6 and 9 degrees were predicted over the coming days.
There is likely be some heavy rain on Thursday and Friday but it will be more showery on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day many of the showers will have passed over Ireland leaving the day mostly bright and dry.
“Everyone has been asking the same questions about Christmas Day but I think as word has got out that there will be no snow or extreme weather we have been a bit quieter,” she said.
There is “considerable uncertainty” about the outlook for the days after Christmas with early indications suggesting that conditions will remain unsettled into the early days of next week.
