Rain, hail, wind and shine in store for Easter weekend

The Easter bank holiday weekend promises a mixed bag of Irish weather, including sunny spells, showers, hail, brisk winds and possibly, thunder.

Met Éireann said Thursday would be cool with fairly widespread showers, some heavy and prolonged, with some hail and thunder, but there would be sunny spells also.

It will be cold overnight, with frost and icy patches, the national forecaster said. There will be some clear spells, but some rain or hail showers too. Lowest temperatures will be between -2 and 2 degrees.

Good Friday

Good Friday will be cool and showery, with showers most frequent across Ulster and Leinster, with some local hail and a risk of thunder. Some showers will persist near the Irish Sea coasts on Friday night, but otherwise it is expected to be dry with clear spells developing.

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Temperatures will be -1 to +4 degrees in fresh northeasterly winds. It will be coldest in the midlands and west with the risk of frost.

Easter Saturday and Sunday

Met Éireann is forecasting dry and bright weather on Saturday with sunny spells and isolated showers, most likely in eastern coastal counties. It says brisk northeasterly winds will ease during the day.

The meteorological service said current indications are that Sunday will begin largely dry with sunny intervals and isolated showers. Cloud is expected to build from the south during the day with rain extending to southern coastal counties during the afternoon. Temperatures will hit a maximum of 5 to 8 degrees in “freshening easterly winds”.

Bank holiday Monday

Bank holiday Monday is expected to be a cold day with strong winds. A band of rain will extent northwards across Ireland, possibly becoming wintry across the northern counties. Drier, brighter weather will develop in the west and southwest later, but Met Éireann said it would remain cloudy and damp elsewhere.

Tuesday is expected to bring sunny spells and scattered showers of rain and hail.

Events this weekend include a sold-out performance by Niall Horan at the 3 Arena in Dublin on Thursday night. Doors open at 6.30pm and traffic around the area is expected to be busy.