Snow, hail and thunderstorms in coming days... but there's better news on the horizon

Snow (depicted in purple) reaching Ireland on Friday morning

Snow, hailstones and thunderstorms are set to sweep Ireland in the coming days but there’s some light at the end of the tunnel with an area of high pressure moving over the country early next week.

Current weather models show snowfall hitting the west coast on Thursday morning before spreading eastward, and there’s likely to be another dusting on Friday morning.

Thundery rain and hailstones are also expected in the coming days during what looks like being an unsettled period before an area of high pressure brings milder conditions next week.

Here’s the forecast for the coming days, courtesy of Met Éireann:

Wednesday

Wet, windy and fairly mild to begin today with outbreaks of rain, clearing eastwards this morning. Brightening up from the west this afternoon with a mix of sunny spells and scattered showers. Highest temperatures of 10 to 13 degrees, with cooler air spreading from the northwest this afternoon. Moderate to fresh and gusty southwest to west winds will gradually ease later today.

Clear spells and scattered showers at first tonight. Cloud will thicken from the west with a spell of heavy and possibly thundery rain spreading eastwards. The rain will clear most parts by dawn with clear spells and showers following. Some of the showers will turn heavy with hail and a chance of thunder in the west, with some sleet possible on high ground by morning. Breezy, with moderate to fresh and occasionally gusty southerly winds, veering southwest to west and decreasing mostly light to moderate inland. Lowest temperatures of 0 to 4 degrees, with a touch of frost possible later in sheltered parts.

Thursday

Cold and bright with sunshine and showers tomorrow. Some of the showers will be heavy with hail and a chance of thunder. Noticeably cooler than recently with afternoon highs of 5 to 8 degrees. Breezy too, with moderate to fresh and occasionally gusty southwest to west winds, stronger in the southwest.

Cold with further showers on Thursday night, especially in parts of the west and northwest, some heavy with hail, with sleet possible over high ground. It’ll be drier further east with lengthier clear breaks. Lowest temperatures of 0 to 3 degrees, with a touch of frost. Winds will be light to moderate southwest to west, fresher in coastal parts of the west and southwest.

Friday

Another fairly cool day with sunny spells and showers. Some of the showers will again be heavy with hail and a chance of thunder. Afternoon highs of 5 to 8 degrees in moderate, occasionally fresh, and gusty westerly winds.

Showers will become confined to coastal parts of the west and north for a time early on Friday night, but the showers will start to spread elsewhere again overnight. Some falls of sleet or snow are possible over higher ground. Cold with some frost and ice possible as temperatures fall to between -1 and +3 degrees in mostly light to moderate winds, fresher in the west and veering west to northwest overnight.

Saturday

A lot of dry weather overall, with some sunshine, though with cloud increasing from the southwest later. There’ll still be a scattering of showers around, these mainly of rain, and they’ll tend to die away later. Afternoon highs of 7 to 10 degrees in mainly light to moderate west to northwest winds.

It looks as though outbreaks of rain and drizzle will push up from the southwest on Saturday night. The northern extent of this rain and drizzle is still uncertain, but it looks as though northern parts of the country will remain dry with clear spells. Lowest temperatures of 1 to 3 degrees in the north and northeast, 4 to 7 degrees elsewhere in freshening southeasterly winds.

Sunday

Current indications for Sunday suggest any rain and drizzle in the south will clear southern counties in the morning, with just scattered showers affecting western, northern and eastern coastal counties during the afternoon. Top temperatures of 6 to 8 degrees in light to moderate northerly winds.

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