Warning as wintry weather on way back

Temperatures are expected to drop below freezing tonight, falling to –4C later in the week, with strong winds and heavy rain forecast.

Tomorrow will see a return to wild weather with temperatures plummeting, especially in Ulster, to 1 to 2C.

“There will be a general trend of unsettled weather. We can expect strong winds, heavy rain, wintry showers, hail, snow and sleet,” said Eoin Sherlock of Met Eireann.

“Tuesday will be very cold with a wintry breeze and that will affect a lot of the western part of the country.

“Wednesday will see the unsettled weather spread across the country, with strong winds and    heavy rain widespread.

“The jet stream will produce some very strong winds for the week ahead.”

While the wild weather will begin to abate by Thursday, temperatures will stay low, with forecasters predicting –4C on Thursday night.

“Temperatures will be below average for this time of year and the nights will be particularly chilly,” said Mr Sherlock.

“We’d expect them to be below freezing tonight and tomorrow, around freezing on Wednesday and down to –4 on Thursday night.

“Daytime temperatures by the end of the week will have fallen to between three and seven degrees,” Eoin told the Herald.

hnews@herald.ie