As many woke up to the sight of a white blanket across the land this morning, that cold weather is set to continue, according to Met Éireann.

With a Status Yellow snow and ice warning in place for Louth, Cavan and Monaghan until 12:00pm today (Thursday, December 31), as the morning progresses, Met Éireann forecasts that there will be scattered wintry showers and some sunny spells nationally, with a few snow flurries.

A more persistent band of rain and sleet will affect the northeast during the late morning, before extending southwards over the east and southeast of the country through the afternoon and evening.

Elsewhere, showers will become more isolated. There will be highest afternoon temperatures of 3° to 6°.

Tonight

Remaining showers or longer spells of rain in eastern areas will gradually clear southeastwards overnight and it will become dry in many areas with clear spells. Scattered showers will persist in parts of the west and northwest.

There will be lowest temperatures of -1° to 2°, with some frost and ice developing away from coasts. Northerly winds will ease light to moderate overnight, but will continue fresh on coasts.

It will be a cold start to New Year’s Day tomorrow (Friday), with frost and ice in places. It will be dry for the day in most areas, with sunny spells, but scattered showers of rain will continue to affect northern and western coastal counties.

It will be a cold day with highs of just 3° to 5°, in light to moderate northerly winds. The night will turn even colder, with widespread frost.

It will be dry in most areas, but scattered showers will develop in northern and western coastal counties, with showers turning wintry once again on high ground.

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday will see a mix of bright spells and scattered showers – the showers mostly of rain, but occasionally wintry on high ground. It will be another cold day with highs of just 2° to 5°.

The night will be very cold with a widespread sharp frost. It will be dry and clear in most areas with a few showers affecting coastal regions.

On Sunday, frost will be slow to clear in the morning. A dry day with crisp winter sunshine will follow, with highs of just 1° to 4°, with a light to moderate northerly breeze. Cloud will build on the east coast later in the day.

Sunday night will be cold with lows of 2° to -4°, coldest in the midlands and west. A northeast breeze will keep temperatures above freezing on the east coast. However, it will also feed in showers to eastern coastal counties.

Drying, spraying and field conditions

Drying conditions will be poor due to generally cold, and at times showery conditions. Although it will become less unsettled by the end of the week, it will still be cold and winds will be lighter so drying is unlikely to improve.

Spraying opportunities will be limited today due to generally breezy or windy and showery conditions. However, some opportunities will arise from Friday onwards, as winds decrease light and it becomes drier.

All soils are either saturated or waterlogged, and no significant improvement is expected in the short-term.

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