A COLD, WET day is forecast, as weather warnings remain in place.

Met Éireann yesterday issued Status Yellow wind and snow-ice warnings for a number of counties. 

A Status Yellow wind warning for counties Clare, Kerry, and Limerick came into effect at 3pm yesterday and will stay in place until 3pm today.

The same warning is in place in Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo. This will expire at 2pm.

Sustained strong and gusty westerly winds coupled with large coastal waves are expected, and potential impacts include difficult travelling conditions and fallen trees.

A Status Yellow snow-ice warning in place for Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Leitrim, and Louth will expire at 9am this morning.

Unsurprisingly, the day will be cold and very windy with plenty of showers of mostly rain and hail. 

There may also be a few thundery showers, some falling as sleet or snow this morning, mainly over high areas in the north.

Showers will become less widespread this afternoon and will be mainly confined to the north and west of the country.

Temperatures will reach highs of 5 to 8°C.

Mild Christmas week

It’ll be a relatively mild Christmas week and there’ll be a lot of dry weather overall, with just a little rain and drizzle at times.

Met Éireann says Monday night will be cloudy and misty with some scattered patches of light rain and drizzle at times as well as some hill and coastal fog. Temperatures won’t fall below 8 to 11 degrees in mostly moderate westerly winds, becoming a little fresher in northwestern coastal parts.

Tuesday, Christmas Eve, will also be mostly cloudy, but it’ll be dry apart from a little patchy light rain and drizzle here and there. There’ll be some mist and hill and coastal fog too for a time. Temperatures will reach 11 to 13 degrees at most.

Christmas Eve night will bring very favourable condition for Santa’s trip around Ireland. It’ll be mostly cloudy and dry. There’ll just be a few patches of drizzle and some mist here and there. 

Wednesday, Christmas Day, is going to be a mild and a mainly dry day with just a few patches of drizzle, Met Éireann predicts. It’ll likely be quite cloudy, but sunny spells are also expected. Temperatures could reach as high as 11 to 14 degrees.

The dry weather will continue on Wednesday night, Christmas night, with just a few scattered patches of light rain and drizzle in parts of the west and northwest. Lowest temperatures will be 6 to 10 degrees in light to moderate southerly winds.

Thursday, St. Stephens Day, is likely to be mostly cloudy in many areas, but once again generally dry for most, apart from a little patchy drizzle and mist.

There is a chance, however, of more persistent rain and drizzle in parts of west Connacht and west Ulster, with a weather front threatening to encroach from the west.

A few bright or sunny spells are possible too, with these most likely in the midlands and east. There’ll be highest temperatures of 10 to 13 degrees in light to moderate southerly winds.