Most of the country will see up to five centimetres of snowfall on Thursday under a new weather warning issued by Met Éireann.
The forecaster has previously held back from issuing a status yellow alert beyond Wednesday, as uncertainty marks the weather system set to blanket the island in snow and ice.
On Tuesday morning, Met Éireann extended a status yellow warning for snow and ice — originally due to lapse at 6pm this evening — to 6pm on Wednesday for eight counties.
However, it has since revised the warning for snow accumulations between two and five centimetres to five counties: Louth, Westmeath, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan.
A separate status yellow snow and ice warning for Munster, Leinster and Connacht will then take effect at 8am on Thursday morning, with up to five centimetres of snow forecast to fall over the three provinces in a 24-hour period.
Some wintry precipitation ❄️🌨️ on the ground at our Mullingar weather station. More weather forecast information for the coming days here➡️https://t.co/9gKN6SVok4 #sneachta pic.twitter.com/r2ZlxEVGB5
Advertisement— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) February 9, 2021
In the warning, the forecaster said that Thursday would see: “A band of sleet and snow spreading northeastwards during Thursday giving snow accumulations of up to five centimetres in some areas (higher over the mountains), but transitioning to rain in the west and south on Thursday night.”
Gritters were out in force in eastern counties on Tuesday morning after temperatures plummeted overnight, leading to icy conditions in places. Caution is advised on roads in eastern parts of Leinster and Ulster.
As easterly winds bring wintery showers in off the Irish Sea, the forecaster said temperatures are set to drop to as low as minus 3 degrees Celsius. The showers, falling as sleet or snow, will spread inland on Tuesday.
There will be two separate bands of snow — one across the middle of the country stretching as far as Galway and a second along the south coast in Munster.
What snow will fall on Tuesday may stay on the ground in places because temperatures will only be between 1 and 3 degrees during the week.
Update! Status Yellow - Snow/Ice warning for Louth, Westmeath, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan
Valid: 10:00 Tuesday 09/02/2021 to 18:00 Wednesday 10/02/2021. https://t.co/l8JdKfwZt9 pic.twitter.com/X9Bt3fmAfDAdvertisement— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) February 9, 2021
“You could see Dublin get up to 3cm on Tuesday. You could be seeing snow on the ground,” Met Éireann forecaster Linda Hughes told The Irish Times.
Wednesday will see a similar pattern, but on Wednesday night a weather front from the Atlantic will hit the cold air from the east.
“We are looking for proper accumulations on Thursday. We are looking at 5cm on Thursday widely. We should seeing lying snow on Thursday,” she said.
“At the moment the south and southeast are looking at the highest accumulations. I expect that to change quite a lot in the coming days.”
Ms Hughes said there was uncertainty about what happens after that with warmer air likely to follow on behind, though parts of Leinster and Ulster could see the snow linger.
Further #snow showers this evening, feeding across the country on brisk easterly winds ❄️
Drier in the west with some clearer spells and just the odd wintry flurry 🌨️
Temperatures widely falling below freezing and feeling bitterly cold in the wind 🥶 pic.twitter.com/6XHWHoRy3Q— Met Office (@metoffice) February 8, 2021
Meanwhile, Germany and the Netherlands have seen transport disrupted as heavy snowfall and icy temperatures gripped parts of central and northern Europe.
In the UK, police warned people not to travel as heavy snow and ice brought disruption, closing coronavirus vaccination centres and schools.
The UK Met Office issued severe amber snow warnings for London and south-east England, where heavy snow is likely to cause long delays on roads as well as affecting rail and air travel.
