Met Éireann has issued a snow and ice warning for 10 counties with a cold snap set to bite over the coming days.
Falls of hail, sleet and snow are expected in Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Roscommon, Leitrim, Longford, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth.
The snow will fall mostly on high grounds but will lie in places below 250 metres. Temperatures will be below freezing in many areas leading to icy roads on Tuesday morning.
The yellow weather warning is in operation from midnight until 1pm on Tuesday.
Cold northerly air from the Arctic will bring a dramatic fall in temperatures following the balmy conditions of last week.
There is also the probability of widespread sharp frost and icy patches elsewhere and Tuesday will be a cold day with highs of just 4 degrees in places.
Wintery
Met Éireann forecaster Vincent O’Shea said the rest of the country will also experience wintery showers falling mostly as sleet and hail.
He said there would be a “great contrast in temperatures” to the previous fortnight with highs of just five to nine degrees across the week, three to four degrees below the norm for this time of year.
Thursday and Friday will be cold too with snow forecast to fall again on Thursday night especially on higher ground in the northwest.
Mr O’Shea said snow in April was more common than many people realise. “The weather in April can be very topsy turvy. It is not unknown when you get a sudden invasion of cold air at higher levels,” he said.
“There is great contrast between the surface and the upper levels. It lends itself to deep convection as we call it so there is a lot of potential for hail and sleet and snow showers are not at all rare in April.”
