The country will have to brace itself for more extreme weather events as the effects of climate change hit home with potentially devastating effects on property and infrastructure.

Remember the huge waves, the howling winds and the lashing rain?

More extreme weather events, increased flood risks during winter and near-drought in some parts during the summer — Ireland needs to prepare itself for the effects of global climate change, experts warned yesterday.

THE cold spell may be a direct result of a natural shift of the Jet Stream which normally brings mild weather to Irish shores, climate experts have said.