Only five counties, in the south of the country, have escaped the weather warnings.
Met Éireann and the UK Met Office have combined to issue weather warnings to 27 counties in Ireland and Northern Ireland, for Thursday and Friday.
Heavy rainfall and, in other areas, snow and ice will hit Ireland over the next 48 hours, with as many as four separate weather warnings issued. They are:
Status Yellow: Snow-Ice warning for Clare, Tipperary, Galway, Laois, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow
Met Éireann Weather Warning – Sleet and snow for a time leading to some accumulations, most significant on higher ground. Could involve hazardous travelling conditions, poor visibility and ice on untreated surfaces. Warning in place from 3am on Thursday until 1pm on Thursday.
Status Yellow: Rain warning for Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Meath, Wexford, Wicklow
Met Éireann Weather Warning – Rain and sleet coupled with blustery easterly winds. Could lead to localised flooding. Warning in place from 5am on Thursday until 5am on Friday.
Status Yellow: Snow-Ice warning for Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Longford
Met Éireann Weather Warning – Sleet and snow leading to accumulations, most significant on higher ground. Possible impacts include hazardous travelling conditions, poor visibility and ice on untreated surfaces. Warning in place from 5am on Thursday until 8pm on Thursday.
Yellow: Snow and Ice Warning for Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry
UK Met Office Weather Warning – A band of rain, sleet and snow will bring some travel disruption for parts of Northern Ireland through Thursday and into Friday. Warning valid from 6am on Thursday until 6am on Friday.
Update ❄️⚠️Yellow Snow-Ice Warning⚠️
Separate 🌧️⚠️Yellow Rain Warning⚠️➡️In effect from the early hours of Thursday morning 08/02/24
Stay updated with the latest forecast, warning type & times for your area ⬇️
ℹ️https://t.co/sFyGizB5AS
ℹ️https://t.co/t2JoveRUyC pic.twitter.com/IJNeWx929B— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) February 7, 2024
Those warnings track with the latest video released by the UK Met Office:
Four-day weather outlook for Ireland
As part of those three separate warnings, encompassing the 27 different counties, Met Eireann also provided a detailed national forecast for the next four days (Thursday, February 8 until Sunday, February 11):
THURSDAY: Will begin cloudy and breezy with outbreaks or rain, sleet and snow. Moderate accumulations are possible, especially across the north, west and north midlands with a light dusting possible elsewhere. Wintry falls will persist across the north with sunny spells and showers developing elsewhere. More general rain will arrive into southern countries later. Cold with an added wind chill factor owing to a fresh to strong and gusty easterly wind. Highest temperatures of 2 to 6 degrees generally; somewhat milder however across southern counties with highest temperature of 7 to 11 degrees.
THURSDAY NIGHT: Rain and sleet will persist across Ulster with outbreaks of rain elsewhere. Lowest temperatures of 0 to 4 degrees. Northeast winds will be quite brisk across the North and Northeast, and mainly moderate in strength across other areas.
FRIDAY: Staying unsettled with scattered outbreaks of rain; some sleet possible across Ulster. Highest temperatures of just 3 to 7 degrees, a little milder though across southern counties. Winds will be cyclonic variable mainly light to moderate, again fresher across the North and Northeast.
FRIDAY NIGHT: Calm with long clear spells and scattered showers, possibly merging to longer spells of rain at times across the North. Lowest temperatures of -1 to 3 degrees with frost and ice.
SATURDAY: Generally cloudy with scattered outbreaks of rain, most prevalent across the South and East. Highest temperatures of 5 to 10 degrees with in light variable breezes.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Similar conditions after-dark but with frost and ice where skies stay clear. Lowest temperatures of 0 to 4 degrees.
SUNDAY: Staying unsettled with further scattered outbreaks of rain, turning wintry in parts later. Some sunny spells in parts too. Highest temperatures of 6 to 9 degrees. In moderate to fresh northwesterly winds.
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