Heavy downpours set to sweep across Ireland this week
We haven't had much to complain about weather-wise, this winter - but it looks like all that's about to change...
Overnight, Met Éireann says we have “some some frost and possibly some icy patches” to contend with, as temperatures drop to as low as 1C.
Windy in eve/early nite.Rain/dz/fog rife.Cold/clear/shrwy weather from W later.Min 1-4.Some frost/icy patches later.
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) January 5, 2015
Tmrw max 5-9.Shrwy.
Tuesday is looking pretty good, all told, with MeteoGroup UK predicting a “dry and bright [day] for most, with spells of sunshine”. It won’t be as warm as we’d like though, with highs of just 9C forecast.
But we’ll certainly settle for that, especially given what lies ahead – the rest of the week’s weather could charitably be described as “changeable”.
Met Éireann has forecast a bout of heavy rain moving in from the west early on Wednesday morning, spreading to ... yep, pretty much everywhere by 6pm.
MetroGroup concurs, predicting “a wet and windy day is expected with outbreaks of rain, these heaviest and most persistent across western parts”. Oh well.
High altitude winds of the jet stream pick up to 200mph this week, steering surface rain & gales our way. Peter http://t.co/lm3JhLkMYi
— BBC Weather (@bbcweather) January 5, 2015
These heavy downpours are likely to linger until Saturday, when they will be “clearing to sunny spells and scattered showers in the afternoon”, says Metrogroup.
These showers will then “mostly die out going in to Sunday”, according to Met Éireann – but “widespread frost and some ice” will be making an unwelcome return that night too.
Still, at least it’s set to stay unseasonably warm. According to Met Éireann, daytime temperatures are set to gradually increase throughout the week.
Keep the hot water bottles at the ready though, especially on Monday and Tuesday night, as we can expect lows to reach a fairly nippy 2C, with the cold set to stay on most nights this week.
There is a limited amount of frost on the cards for Wednesday too, but only in sheltered areas.
From then on though, we can look forward to increasingly warm daytime temperatures as the week progresses, culminating in a relatively balmy 13C by Saturday.
In keeping with that "changeable" theme, the BBC’s Cecilia Daly expecting some brisk winds throughout the week, with the first bout of blustery weather due for Wednesday.
Two windy periods expected this week. The first low pressure system exits the US today expected our way Wed. pic.twitter.com/eA8mJiuwd4
— Cecilia Daly (@WeatherCee) January 5, 2015
And things aren’t going to get any better next week folks, with Met Éireann saying “it is likely that very changeable conditions will set in once again with rain or showers and frequently rather strong winds”.
But that’s nothing compared to some particularly doom-laden forecasts from Dutch weather site Weermodellenforum.nl, which is warning of a superstorm and “heavy, blustery wintry showers” after January 12.
Woah!
Other forecasts aren't quite as dramatic as that, but they are warning of some strong winds on the way.
Accuweather is predicting gusts reaching a whopping 78mph in Galway on Wednesday, January 14.
This Metcheck forecast for Cork doesn't look great either.
Fingers crossed, eh?
