Cold northern air mass arrives as Met Éireann forecasts temperatures near freezing

Temperatures could drop to near freezing in parts of Ireland on Thursday night before giving way to a “cold” Friday, Met Éireann said.

The chills felt in some areas on Thursday morning are expected to continue on Friday, although the forecaster predicts temperatures will rise in the coming days.

While highs of 12 to 14 degrees are expected during the day with “lots of sunshine”, Thursday night will be cold, reaching lows of 1 to 4 degrees.

Alongside this, Met Éireann is predicting some fog patches and “perhaps even a little frost on the grass”.

However, the risk of frost is slim because the ground is not cooling as much as the air, said Met Éireann meteorologist Joanna Donnelly, who attributed the recent drop in temperature to a cold air mass from the north.

The cold front that arrived on Tuesday put Ireland in a “markedly different air mass”, she said, leading to colder than normal temperatures since then.

Clear skies Wednesday night amid the cold northern air mass caused temperatures to drop and continue through Thursday morning.

“While this is quite unusual for this time of year, it is not particularly exceptional and the cold snap will likely end when a warm front arrives on Friday.

“We’re not expecting high temperatures, but they will eventually recover enough,” she said.

( Met Éireann says 2024 was coldest summer in nine yearsOpens in a new window )

Friday morning will be mostly dry with sunny spells but generally “cool”, although it looks set to remain dry.

Temperatures will reach highs of 14 to 16 degrees, and Friday night is expected to be mild with patches of rain and drizzle in the west and north of the country.

After highs of 14 to 17 degrees on Saturday, showers of rain and drizzle will spread across the country overnight, while Sunday will be generally dry with temperatures reaching 19 degrees before showers return overnight.

Although generally cloudy conditions are expected on Monday, with patches of rain and drizzle, maximum temperatures of 17 to 22 degrees are forecast.

Temperatures will reach highs of 20 to 23 degrees on Tuesday, with the weather forecast to be warm and sunny.