Big chill unlikely to hit this winter

PLENTY of rain, high winds and some snow, but no repeat of last December’s big freeze — that’s the winter forecast by Peter O’Donnell, a Canadian-based climatologist who specialises in providing long-range forecasts for Ireland and Britain.

Last year, he accurately forecast a bitterly cold spell here with lots of snow, saying that it “could become an epic winter”.

This time, he predicts that Mother Nature will be kinder.