LAST UPDATE | 7 Dec 2022

THE COLD SNAP has well and truly set in with frost, icy stretches and fog patches in places.

Met Éireann’s winter weather warning is still in place. It is to be very cold all week as an Arctic airmass sets in bringing “sharp to severe frosts, and ice or black ice” on roads and footpaths. 

As of 8pm this evening, the mercuy has dropped towards freezing and it is expected to only get colder throughout the night.

A Status Yellow snow/ice warning is in place for tonight as a band of icy precipitation is likely to cause black ice and freezing rain on surfaces, leading to hazardous conditions. The warning is in place from midnight until noon tomorrow. 

Another Status Yellow warning for low temperature/ice will come into place from 10pm tomorrow night until 10am on Friday morning as a sharp frost with icy surfaces is expected with temperatures widely falling to -4 degrees. 

Temperatures are to drop to -4 to zero degrees later this evening as widespread frost and ice will form overnight, as well as some patches of freezing fog. 

Tomorrow, the band of wintry showers over Ulster will track southwards over the country. Some accumulations of snow are possible, especially in Midland counties. Met Éireann has said. 

The wintry weather conditions will lead to hazardous travel conditions, and drivers are advised to exercise caution. 

Tomorrow will see highest temperatures of just 0 to +3 degrees, with sunny spells and scattered wintry showers. 

A “severe frost” is forecasted to set in shortly after dark falls and it will turn icy in places. 

There will be wintry showers in the Atlantic coastal counties of Connacht and Ulster and for a time in parts of Leinster, with a potential covering of snow. Temperatures will drop to a low of -5 to -2 degrees. 

The rest of the week is to features sub-zero temperatures by night, and also by day in some areas. 

There will be a good deal of dry weather, as well as hail, sleet and snow showers in places.

Temperatures are to dip below zero over the weekend, with highest temperatures of +2 degrees on Sunday and lows of -6 on Sunday night.

Met Éireann has said it will stay very cold on Monday, there is a lot of uncertainty in the forecast thereafter. 

Further weather warnings are expected in the coming days as the current winter weather advisory is in place until Monday.