A yellow weather warning for snow and ice has been issued for Donegal as well as a rainfall warning for Connacht and several counties across the midlands and south as a cold blast of winter crosses the country during this St Patrick's holiday weekend.
Heavy rain overnight is expected to turn to snow early on Saturday morning in Co Donegal and will lead to poor driving conditions. Accumulations of up to 3cm and on high ground are expected.
The status yellow rainfall warning for Connacht, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath, Cavan, Monaghan, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary could turn to snow in parts for a time. It could also lead to spot flooding in places, Met Éireann said. Up to 35mm of rain could fall in places.
It will be notably colder across the country on Saturday with maximum temperatures of between 2 and 5 degrees in the north and northwest and just 6 to 9 degrees elsewhere.
St Patrick’s Day will be cold and showery with temperatures of between 7 and 9 degrees which is rather typical for parades but a lot more mild than it was last year which was one of the coldest St Patrick’s days in recorded history.
The weather takes a dramatic turn for the better from Monday when temperatures are forecast to start rising progressively across the week.
It will be a notably milder day on Monday with temperatures of between 8 and 11 degrees and we will lose the strong northwesterly winds.
The advice from AA Roadwatch is to allow for traffic restrictions in most town centres on Sunday when St Patrick’s Day parades will be taking place.
In the capital, the parade takes off from Parnell Square at noon and makes its way through O’Connell Street, around College Green, up Dame Street to Christchurch and Patrick Street to finish on Cuffe Street.
Streets around the route will be closed from early morning until 6pm. Traffic on the North Quays will be diverted via Church Street and the North Circular Road.
Diversions will also be in place on Custom House Quay and Merrion Square due to two funfairs. These run from 11am on Saturday until Monday evening, with Merrion Square also playing host to the festival village for the weekend.
There will be further traffic restrictions on Monday when a 5km road race, starting at midday on St Stephen’s Green, tracks its way through Pembroke Street, Wilton Terrace and Leeson Street.
Elsewhere, most streets in Limerick city centre will be closed between 7am to 3.30pm on Sunday.
In Cork, the parade route takes in both Grand Parade and Patrick Street, starting on South Mall and finishing on Merchant’s Quay. Most streets surrounding the route will be closed between 7am and 4pm, with streets in the city centre closed until 5.30pm.
In Galway, the parade leaves NUI Galway at 11.30am, heading from there to Eyre Square via University Road, Salmon Weir Bridge and Eglinton Street. There will be rolling closures along the route.
The Irish Times has compiled a guide to events taking place over the weekend, which can be found here.
