SNOW IS set to return tomorrow night and Friday, with falls of up to 10cms possible in many areas, Met Éireann has said.
The weather is set to become steadily colder for the rest of the week, with temperatures not expected to rise above 3 or 4 degrees by tomorrow and night-time temperatures falling as low as -4 degrees.
However, Met Éireann forecaster Deirdre Lowe said a return to the severe pre-Christmas weather was not expected in the foreseeable future. “It will turn very cold for the rest of the week and into the weekend and there is a risk of snow, but it looks likely that later on Friday and into Saturday it will turn back into rain or sleet,” she said.
Ms Lowe said it was difficult to say at this remove exactly how widespread any snow would be, but it could be several centimetres deep in midlands, eastern and southern parts of the country.
“It is still borderline whether there will be snow in any particular place: depending on the temperatures, it could fall as sleet. I don’t think it will last as long as previously and will turn back into rain for the weekend.”
There were no indications that the prolonged sub-zero temperatures experienced before Christmas, where night-time values frequently fell below -10, would return in the short to medium term.
“While it will get colder, the air isn’t as cold as it was and it is not as stagnant,” said Ms Lowe. “Any snow that does fall is likely to be wet snow, which doesn’t tend to stay on the ground.”
A spokeswoman for the Dublin Airport Authority said it was too early to say whether the airport would have to be closed but that the airport’s snow and ice crews were on standby.
“We have all our equipment at the ready and we are closely monitoring the Met reports,” she said. “As soon as the temperature drops below 3 degrees, we are on alert and at the ready.”
