Christmas weather: mixed outlook with no chance of snow

Christmas Day will start cold and frosty with sunny spells before cloudier conditions arrive

A file image showing frost and ice at vthe Glencree river in Glencree, Co Wicklow. Christmas Day will start cold, frosty, and bright before becoming cloudier.   Photograph: Getty Images
A file image showing frost and ice at vthe Glencree river in Glencree, Co Wicklow. Christmas Day will start cold, frosty, and bright before becoming cloudier. Photograph: Getty Images

Weather conditions will be mixed over the coming days, according to Met Éireann with milder temperatures expected after Christmas Day.

The forecaster said there will be some dry and bright days interspersed with wet and windy days this week.

Many places will be dry on Monday, with bright or sunny spells.

However, showers will occur in the west and northwest. Cloud will thicken over the afternoon in Munster and south Leinster and outbreaks of rain will develop in these areas in the evening. Highest temperatures will be between seven and 9 degrees.

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Outbreaks of rain will gradually spread northwards over the rest of the country on Monday night, becoming patchy and breaking up into clearer spells and showers towards Tuesday morning.

Lowest temperatures will be between zero and four degrees and winds will be mainly light southwest or variable with patchy frost, mist and fog.

Tuesday is due to start with a mix of cloud, bright intervals and showers. The showers will become increasingly isolated over central and northern areas during the afternoon with sunny spells breaking through more widely.

Highest temperatures will be between 9 and 10 degrees in moderate southwest breezes near the south coast.

Showers will die out in the south on Tuesday night, leaving clear skies over much of the country, which will allow temperatures to fall between minus two and two degrees, with frost forming.

Met Éireann says it will be a "cold and frosty" start for many on Christmas Day, with mist and fog patches clearing. Crisp, sunny spells in eastern and northern areas will soon give way to cloudier conditions extending from the west and southwest during the morning.

It will stay mostly dry for daylight hours, but patchy rain and drizzle will develop in parts of Connacht and west Munster during the evening.

Highest temperatures will be around seven or eight degrees near the south coast. Christmas night will be mild and breezy with outbreaks of rain and drizzle in the west and south becoming widespread overnight, with occasionally heavy bursts.

Moderate to fresh and gusty southeasterly breezes will be strong at the coasts. Lowest temperatures will be between two and four degrees.

Stephen's Day is due to be a mild day with outbreaks of rain and drizzle. Highest temperatures will be between eight or 10 degrees.

Friday is expected to be a mostly cloudy and mild day with southerly breezes. There will be rain at times in the west and northwest, with the best of the drier intervals in the east and south. Highest temperatures will be between 10 and 12 degrees.

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns is a reporter for The Irish Times