It wasn’t exactly a white Christmas but forecasters have said there could be a white start to the new year in parts of Ireland as rain and wind batters the country.
New Year’s Eve will continue to be wet and windy, according to Met Éireann, with a rainfall warning in place for Cork and Kerry until 6am on New Year’s Day.
Matthew Martin, a forecaster with Met Éireann, warned of the possibility of localised flooding and wet conditions in the areas affected.
“The main thing is it will become much colder [from Wednesday]. We’ve got a cold front pushing south which will introduce some cold, Arctic air over Ireland through New Year’s Day and much of the rest of the week,” he said.
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“From Wednesday night onwards, there will be cold, frosty nights with ice. There could be a few wintry showers but they’ll mainly be in Ulster and we’re not expecting anything too significant.”
Lowest temperatures will be between 0 and minus 3 degrees, according to the forecaster.
Aurora borealis enthusiasts had predicted the Northern Lights would likely be visible across large parts of Ireland on Tuesday night due to a solar storm.
However, Mr Martin said there would be “too much cloud” for the lights to be visible, and there would be a “better chance” of seeing the phenomenon on Wednesday night if there is another solar storm at that time.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday will continue to be cold and frosty, though there will also be periods of sunshine. On Thursday night, lowest temperatures will be between minus 4 and 1 degrees, with widespread frost.
On Friday, there will be a mix of sunny spells and cloudy periods but it will still be “bitterly cold with highs struggling to reach beyond 1 to 5 degrees”, according to Met Éireann.
“Then for the weekend, it’s really uncertain. There is potential for some snow in places late Saturday to Sunday and it may stay cold then until next week,” Mr Martin said.
“There is lots of uncertainty around that but certainly there is potential there could be snowfall in some areas later in the weekend.”
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