While there’ll be a frosty start to 2016, Met Eireann has said that there’s more rain on the way.
Cloud will increase this morning, New Year’s Day, after a frosty start, it said.
Southeasterly winds will strengthen everywhere bringing rain and drizzle to coastal counties of the south and east, early in the morning, it said.
According to Met Eireann, more persistent rain will develop in Munster before noon and will spread to the rest of the country in the afternoon and evening.
The rain will be heaviest in south Munster and will add to the flood problems there and it said it will feel cold with afternoon temperatures of 5 to 10 degrees Celsius, coldest in the north.
Tonight will continue mostly overcast with further outbreaks of rain in many parts of the country, Met Eireann said.
Moderate to fresh, east to northeast breezes will prevail, it said, making it feel cold but there will be no frost.
Tomorrow, Saturday will see overcast, damp or wet conditions persisting for the morning but there will be a steady improvement to mainly dry weather during the afternoon, although cloud is likely to persist, according to Met Eireann.
This cloud will probably prevent frost on Saturday night, even though it will remain cold, it said.
Later on Saturday night, Met Eireann has said that southeasterly winds will strengthen everywhere and rain will arrive in the southwest and west, spreading to all of Munster and Connacht by daybreak.
The rain will soon turn heavy in these provinces and will spread into Leinster and Ulster on Sunday morning, it said.
According to Met Eireann, rain will linger over Leinster and Ulster for the rest of Sunday but it will become drier in Munster and Connacht, though with showers developing on southern and western coasts.
Winds will moderate later Sunday while veering south to southwest; it said that it will still feel rather cool but temperatures will be near normal for early January.
A cool start to next week – Met Eireann
The early days of next week will remain rather cool but it is not likely to be windy, and only scattered showers are expected, according to Met Eireann.
Most of the showers will occur in southern and western counties, leaving many other parts of the country mostly dry with some sunshine, it said.
Met Eireann said that nights will be cold, though, with frost and a risk of ice in places.
However, there are indications that the midweek period will see a return to windier and wetter conditions countrywide, it said.