Met Eireann pinpoints when snow and freezing conditions will hit as Arctic airmass set to hit Ireland

Met Eireann has pinpointed when snow will hit as an Arctic airmass is set to bring freezing conditions to Ireland for at least the next week. 

Met Eireann is warning that the weather will turn very cold this week as an Arctic airmass sets in, bringing sharp to severe frosts and icy stretches on roads.

Showers of hail, sleet, and snow will occur during the second half of the week. Met Eireann says updates with potential warnings will be issued in the coming days.

Temperatures are set to hit highs of eight degrees today before it turns very cold tonight with widespread frost, as temperatures drop to between -3 and +1 degrees generally. Some mist and fog will also develop in the south in light northerly winds. It will be mainly dry and clear, but will become cloudier with isolated showers in the northwest later, some may turn wintry, especially over higher ground.

According to the latest Met Eireann weather forecast for Ireland, a scattering of showers will push down over Ulster and Connacht through the afternoon and evening on Wednesday, while turning increasingly wintry with snow possible on higher ground. Wednesday will be cold with temperatures only reaching between 2 and 4 degrees. 

There will be a widespread sharp frost on Wednesday night with lows of -3 to +1 degrees with ice on untreated surfaces. Wintry showers will move southwards over the northern half of the country overnight and temperatures will rise marginally with falls of rain, sleet and snow, in some areas, that may lead to some very icy conditions.

Thursday will also be very cold with temperatures only nudging above freezing in some areas with high of between +1 and +4 degrees generally in light northerly breezes. Scattered outbreaks of rain, sleet, and possibly some snow over higher ground, will gradually push down over the south of the country. Sunny spells and some scattered wintry showers will follow. They will become confined to coastal parts through the afternoon.

Thursday night will be another bitterly cold night with a widespread sharp to severe frost and some icy patches. Minimum temperatures of -4 to -1 degrees in light northwest to west breezes. Most areas will be dry and clear, but there will be a few wintry showers at times, mostly near northern coasts.

Met Eireann says the weather will staying very cold on Friday with temperatures once again struggling to get to +1 to +4 degrees in light westerly breezes. Most of the country will remain dry and quite sunny, but wintry showers will persist near coasts, especially in the west.

According to Met Eireann, there will be another widespread frost on Friday night with a mix of cloud and clear spells as lowest temperatures dip to between -3 and -1 degrees generally. Wintry coastal showers will continue near western coasts. While a rogue wintry shower or two can't be ruled out elsewhere, it will mostly be a dry night. Fog, or freezing fog will develop as the night goes on, becoming quite dense through the midlands by morning.

It will be very cold on Saturday with some parts of the Midlands not expected to rise above zero as fog persists. Elsewhere generally only getting to +1 to +3 degrees. Apart from the chance of coastal showers in the north and west, it will be a dry day with sunny spells. These becoming confined as the fog is expected to become more widespread through the afternoon and evening.