Met Éireann has issued a Status Yellow weather warning for low temperatures and ice tonight (Thursday, November 20).

The national forecaster said that there will be widespread frost and some icy stretches.

Overnight air temperatures will drop to -3°C, with the mercury possibly falling lower locally.

Warning

The weather warning currently applies to counties Carlow; Kildare; Kilkenny; Laois; Longford; Meath; Offaly; Tipperary; Westmeath; and Wicklow.

The alert will come into force from 11:00p.m tonight and remain in place until 8:00a.m on Friday.

Met Éireann said there will be a risk of hazardous travelling conditions and possible animal welfare issues due to the freezing conditions.

Meanwhile, a Status Yellow snow and ice warning for Northern Ireland remains in place.

The UK Met Office said the warning for Antrim; Armagh; Down; Fermanagh; Tyrone and Derry will expire at 12:00p.m today.

Met Éireann

According to Met Éireann's latest farming commentary the weather will generally be settled over the next few days with little rainfall apart from some showers in the north and west.

It is expected to become wetter from Friday evening onwards. Rainfall totals over the next 7 days are likely to be highest over the northern half of the country.

Over the coming week, air temperatures are likely to be between 1° and 3° below normal levels for this time of year.

Soil temperatures are currently above normal at 8.3° to 10.5°, values will decrease slightly in the coming week.

Met Éireann said that soils are currently saturated or waterlogged across the country.

While there will be some dry weather this week, drying conditions will be generally poor and further rain is expected at the end of the week so there will be no improvement in soil conditions overall.

Some moderately and poorly drained soils will deteriorate further by the end of the week.