Cold weekend ahead with chance of snow

Met Éireann says a cold and unsettled weekend is on the cards with the possibility of sleet or snow.

The weather is to turn cold and unsettled over the weekend with the possibility of sleet and snow.

Met Éireann is forecasting a cold and unsettled weekend with temperatures dropping below freezing.

It will be a mixed bag over the next few days with the weather turning very cold nationwide.

Sub-zero temperatures, frost, rain, strong winds, sleet and snow are all expected this weekend.

Cathal Nolan from Ireland's Weather Channel says the sleet and snow that is forecast will hit Atlantic coastal counties on Sunday.

"We do expect to see some pretty heavy showers especially in Atlantic coastal counties and especially through the north-west of the country," said Mr Nolan.

"Some of those showers through Sunday afternoon could be wintry in nature. There is a risk of some sleet, some snow."

Our Atlantic chart shows precipitation and pressure forecast in 6 hour intervals for the next 7 days:https://t.co/v5aQGT8F9e

Our national forecast and the national outlook for the coming days are available here: https://t.co/yEsIuCkWlq pic.twitter.com/IGwch08AJ1

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) January 24, 2020

This weekend marks the start of the National Football and Hurling Leagues with 33 inter-county matches nationwide.

The pick of the matches is a repeat of last year's All-Ireland Football Final between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park.

"Pretty decent conditions for sport across Saturday. We expect to see westerly winds, some showers coming in again not too much in the way of heavy percipitation at that stage.

"It is through Saturday night, probably not until after midnight, that we will start to see the first of the heavy bands of showers across the country."

Looking ahead to early next week then, Monday and Tuesday could see lows as low as -2°C.

Mid-week current indications suggest it will turn less cold but will remain unsettled with spells of wet and windy weather.