Subzero temperatures and wintry showers forecast

Scarves and gloves at the ready this week as Met Éireann has warned that "much colder" weather will develop with sub-zero temperatures , night frosts and wintry showers forecast.

The frosty weather will begin tonight when temperatures fall to zero and icy patches may develop.

Subzero temperatures are forecast for Wednesday night as the freezing weather takes hold. The coldest areas will be the midlands where temperatures are forecast to drop to between zero and -2 degrees accompanied by a “sharp or severe frost”, Met Éireann has said.

A cold front will move across the country on Thursday night and it will be quite windy for a while, Met Eireann forecaster Deirdre Lowe said. There is a possiblity of wintry showers in the north but “not a whole lot further south” she said. It will be “very cold” on Thursday night with warning of frost and icy patches.

Friday will be the “really cold frosty night” when air temperatures will dip to -2 or -3 degrees, Ms Lowe said. There may be “wintry showers” on higher groubnd but “nothing significant”, she said.

The strong wind on Friday will make it “feel colder” she said. Daytime Friday temperatures willonly reach between 2 and 5 degrees.

Temperatures at the weekend will also reach a couple of degrees below zero when there will be a good deal of dry and cold weather. .

It is not clear how long the freezing weather will last it is “not really a prolonged cold spell” Ms Lowe said.

The lowest temperature on record for December is -17.5 while the highest is 18.1 degrees. The average December temperature for Dublin is 5.4 degrees.

Figures released by Met Éireann yesterday show it was an unusually dry and mild November.