Colder this week, some wintry/snow showers, widespread frost and ice.

This little feature on the T+60 Fax looks interesting as the 528 dam sweeps southward, possibly rain to snow (particularly in coastal areas) , its in a fairly reliable timeframe too, hopefully a starter course before the main event.

Don't worry, the tabloids will have reports on page 1, 3, 4, 7, 9. In-depth analysis on pages 11-15 and a what to do list on pages 19 & 20.

Feckin showery and cold in north Dublin.

Of course we'd never get these streamers if conditions were right for them to fall as snow!

What about a glossy pull out mag on fashion tips for colder weather?!! 😱🤔

Low temperature warning has been issued from met eirrean for Thursday night

@Meteorite58 will I be able to get up the hill when I come home from Tralee? 176m asl 😕

12Z radiosondes have sampled 850-hPa temperatures to our north 2-3 degrees colder than forecast by the 00Z ECMWF or ICON. The GFS actually is pretty bang on this time. Compare the first chart (measured) to the ECMWF and GFS forecasts. Soundings from Jan Mayen (-16 °C), and Torshavn (-11 °C) are around 2-3 degrees colder than model field.

Still fairly mild. Had the beanie and big jacket on when I went for the walk at lunch. Had to take both off. Nearly sweating.

Beautiful day in Galway blue sky and a temp of 8 degrees it will be interesting tomorrow

Gone colder since this morning here in Carrick, 4c but feels like 0c

Gone right cold.

Cold Spell for the rest of this week

An Artic airmass will bring sharp to severe frosts with ice on footpaths and roads. Showers of hail, sleet, snow and freezing rain are likely with fog and possibly freezing fog towards the weekend.

Meteorologist Andrew Doran Sherlock explains “the most severe impacts will be on driving conditions which could be treacherous in places on Thursday morning, particularly during commute times”

Airmass chart for Thursday 8th December showing a cold (blue) airmass extending southwards over Ireland.

Very cold conditions will set in as an Arctic airmass moves southwards, extending over Ireland. Daytime temperatures will struggle to reach the low single figures. Air temperatures will widely drop to -4°C or -5°C at night, dropping down lower locally, with ground temperatures expected to fall further. A status yellow low temperature/ice warning has been issued for Thursday with further warnings likely to be required for the following days.

Wintry showers with falls of hail, sleet and snow are expected which will lead to dangerous conditions on paths and roads. Freezing rain is also possible, resulting in black ice.

Mist and fog will also be a feature of the nights and with very slack winds over the weekend, widespread and dense fog is expected, lingering in some parts through much of the day. Freezing fog is also a possibility.

Be Winter Ready

For information on winter weather preparation, please consult www.winterready.ie

Freezing Rain & Black Ice

Water droplets don’t necessarily freeze immediately when the air temperature falls below 0°C as they need freezing nuclei to convert to ice particles. Rain droplets that exist below 0°C are said to be supercooled. Freezing rain is where these supercooled water droplets fall to the surface causing significant disruption and hazardous conditions. While unusual in Ireland, freezing rain does sometimes occur, converting to black ice when it hits a surface. Black ice is especially dangerous as it is invisible and can be mistaken for wet surfaces – leading to treacherous conditions on roads and paths. Freezing rain can also lead to ice build-up on car windscreens impairing visibility.

Fog & Freezing Fog

Fog is essentially thick, low lying cloud composed of tiny water droplets (1 million fog droplets is equivalent to 1 rain droplet) suspended near the Earth’s surface where visibility is reduced below 1km. The reduced visibility is a major hazard for those travelling on or near roads. Freezing fog is where the water droplets are supercooled, and while suspended in the air, can be converted to ice upon contact with a surface such as a car windscreen. This leads to further hazardous driving conditions.

Climate Statistics

Irelands’ coldest day in December occurred on Christmas day the 25th December 2010. The air temperature at Straide, County Mayo dropped to -17.5°C and 11cm of snow was observed at this station that morning.

Although it is too early to say that 2022 will be Ireland’s warmest year on record yet, what would we need for this to be a record-breaking warm year? And will this cold spell stop Ireland having its warmest year on record?

The average daily maximum temperature we expect in Ireland in December is generally in the range of 7 to 10°C and the average daily minimum temperature we expect in December in Ireland is generally in the range of 2 to 5°C.

According to Met Eireann’s latest statistics, Ireland would have to have a December monthly mean temperature of 4.05°C or below to not have the warmest year on record.

A December monthly mean temperature of 4.05°C has only happened 7 times in 123 years, the last couple of times being Dec 2009 and 2010, when it was 4.01°C and 1.44°C respectively.

Despite a warning for snow in Donegal in the coming days most of the showers in the Northwest will be of rain or sleet. Colder temperatures will be inland.

Tonight a milder sector is moving into the Northwest so even though therell be precipitation it will mostly be rain. In fact temperatures in the Northwest will hover around zero at night and 5c by day so conditions will be be as severe here. However if the Easterly component returns at the weekend there could be some hard frost and an odd snowflake

Ice on the car at 5pm this evening. Fabulous sunset.

Thats definitely a large part of it. Many of the weather greats and those that used to pop in to follow them are ancient history now.

Id imagine with the money it costs to heat a home these days most are happy enough for it to stay mild.