Dig out the long johns.

Met Éireann has issued a weather advisory to ensure that we’re all fully prepared for a freezing spell of winter weather this week, with temperatures set to drop as low as minus four after dark from Tuesday on.

“After an unusually mild start to November, people are going to get quite a shock as the temperatures plummet next week, which is why we have issued an Advisory for Ireland,” said Met Éireann’s Deputy Head of Forecasting Liz Coleman.

It’ll be mostly cloudy to begin with today, Saturday, with some light rain and drizzle. Dry, clearer weather will extend southwards to all areas through the morning and early afternoon with afternoon highs of 9 to 12 degrees. Tomorrow, Sunday, will be mostly cloudy and fresh with some scattered outbreaks of rain at times but there’ll be some dry spells too, with some bright or sunny spells and highest temperatures of 9 to 11 degrees.

The big freeze

Met Éireann is monitoring the situation closely over the weekend but there is a high degree of certainty that by Tuesday it is going to turn much colder as an Arctic airmass sinks over the country from the north.

“Daytime temperatures will often range around 2 to 6 degrees with night-time temperatures widely falling below freezing, bringing widespread frost and ice,” added Coleman.

A weather advisory has been issued as the weather becomes significantly colder. 📉 🥶

You can read more about this in our Meteorologist commentary 👇 📰https://t.co/7hiym4dvw9 pic.twitter.com/xKslRMJWVF

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) November 15, 2024

“The northerly airflow will also bring showers of sleet and snow, these most frequent over the northern half of the country but there is potential for some showers to reach further south. These conditions will bring some hazardous travelling conditions, travel disruptions and poor visibility.”

The cold northerly airmass looks set to linger over Ireland until next Friday at least, but possibly into next weekend too.