Prepare for a bitterly cold night.

Met Éireann is warning that tonight looks set to be the coldest night of the winter so far as temperatures plummet to -5 to -7°C in the west and north and -3C in much of Munster.

According to forecasters, today, Tuesday will continue very cold with frost and ice clearing very slowly, lingering for the day in some areas. It will be dry over much of the region with sunny spells but further showers of rain, hail, sleet and snow will affect eastern parts and temperatures will barely creep over 4C.

We can expect widespread sharp or severe frost and ice tonight with lows of -1C to -3C.

Very cold today with frost & ice clearing slowly, & persisting in some parts for much of the day. Cloudier at times over Leinster & Munster with scattered wintry showers of rain, hail, sleet & snow. Drier & brighter overall in Connacht & Ulster. Daytime highs of just 1 to 4°C. pic.twitter.com/cQiTwuXAMK

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) January 5, 2021

“While most areas will be dry with clear spells, scattered wintry showers of hail, sleet or snow will affect eastern parts,” said Met Éireann.

Frost and ice will clear very slowly on Wednesday, lingering in some parts for the day but it will be mostly dry with sunny spells.

The sub-zero conditions look like to persist for the coming days, with forecasters predicting that temperatures will stay “well below normal this week” with widespread and severe frost and ice, but becoming less cold over the weekend.