Siberian winds bring increased chance of snow over weekend

Heavy snowfall may arrive to Ireland next week as Met Éireann predict a cold snap like the 'Beast from the East' three years ago which left  Macroom and surrounding areas lie under a blanket of thick snow. File picture: John Delea.

A “significant” amount of snow and ice is to come this weekend and expected to carry on into the following week as a weather front from Siberia comes to Ireland.

Met Éireann has said that the start of next week will be "bitterly cold and wintry" with temperatures in Cork expected to fall to minus-2 degrees.

The national forecaster has predicted that things will turn "progressively colder" as we enter the weekend with a "cold northerly air-flow" set to cause temperatures to plummet.

They reported that this Friday, many parts of the country can expect to see frost and ice.

On the left below is a probabilistic representation of max & min temperatures for Dublin from the ECMWF's ENSEMBLE forecast system. It shows a high amount of certainty that we're in for some very cold days from Sunday onwards. But how long it will last? 🥶 ☃️ pic.twitter.com/822cXerlxK

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) February 3, 2021

The severe cold weather is expected to settle in on Saturday, and at the earliest, it is predicted to have cleared up by the following Wednesday.

However, there are indications that on Wednesday it can be expected that snow will accumulate as an Atlantic depression meets cold easterly air from Siberia.

Beast from the East levels of snow could fall next week. The February 2018 snowstorm saw the heaviest snowfalls in Ireland since 1982.