Weather

ssued at: 10 February 2024 00:05
TONIGHT
Cloudy with outbreaks of rain and drizzle in northern areas. Clear spells and scattered showers elsewhere, most frequent in Munster and south Leinster. There will be some mist and fog too. Generally light to moderate east to southeast winds, but fresh at times in the southwest. Lowest temperatures of 0 to 5 degrees with frost possible locally.
TOMORROW – Sunday 11th February
Drizzle will clear from the northwest tomorrow morning. Scattered showers in the south at first will extend over most of the country through the rest of the day. Some of the showers will be heavy and may cause spot flooding. Winds will be mostly light to moderate and variable but a fresh northwesterly wind will develop in the southwest. Highest temperatures of 7 to 10 degrees.
National Outlook
OVERVIEW: Changeable with rain and showers at times.
Saturday night: Showery outbreaks of rain will clear eastwards through the night, followed by clear spells and scattered showers, most frequent for Atlantic coastal counties. Lowest temperatures of 0 to 4 degrees generally with mostly light to moderate westerly winds developing allowing for some fog patches to develop, but the winds will be fresher in the south and west.
Sunday: Fog, frost and ice clearing in the morning to leave a day of sunny spells and scattered showers, most frequent over the western half of the country where some of the showers will turn wintry. Highest temperatures of 6 to 9 degrees in moderate to fresh west to southwest winds.
Sunday night: Scattered showers continuing in the north and Atlantic counties, with mostly dry and clear conditions elsewhere. Lowest temperatures of -1 to +3 degrees in moderate, occasionally fresh, west to southwest winds.
Monday: Sunny spells with showers becoming widespread through the morning and afternoon, with some wintry falls at times. Becoming drier during the evening. Highest temperatures of 5 to 9 degrees with moderate to fresh southwesterly winds. Mostly dry overnight with just a few showers continuing in the northwest. Cloud will thicken from the south with rain and drizzle moving over southern areas later in the night. Lowest temperatures of 0 to 4 degrees.
Tuesday: Generally dull with outbreaks of rain and drizzle over Munster and south Leinster. Drier further north with sunny spells and just a few showers possible. Highest temperatures of 7 to 10 degrees in light to moderate southwesterly or variable breezes.
Further outlook: A good deal of uncertainty further ahead. Likely to remain changeable unsettled with further spells of rain at times.
Snowfall disrupts NI roads but weather set to change for the weekend
It was predicted on Groundhog Day last week that an early spring would be around the corner for 2024. This certainly hasn’t been the case in Northern Ireland though, as certain areas around the region were adversely affected by snow and ice throughout today.
Those who weren’t impacted badly by the frost instead suffered long and heavy showers, and many roads became impassable as the weather worsened.
The Met Office’s yellow warning for snow and ice stretched across NI and was brought forward to begin at 9am on Thursday, lasting until 6am on Friday morning
The national forecaster said that the areas hardest hit by the chill included parts of counties Armagh and Derry, with high sections off the latter seeing four centimetres of snow on the ground.
Glenanne in Co Armagh had two centimetres of snow lying at around 1pm this afternoon.
Western areas of Northern Ireland were first to be hit with snowfall
The PSNI said that “many roads” in the Newry, Mourne & Down area were impassable.
The force added that they had dealt with a number of crashes and advised road users only to travel if their journey was necessary.
In Co Antrim, the Shanes Hill Road in Kilwaughter, near Larne, was impassable due to hazardous driving conditions, with a crash having occurred, although there were no reports of any injuries.
“The road is currently impassable due to hazardous driving conditions as a result of snow, and also a collision in the area. Please seek an alternative route for your journey,” said a police representative at the time.
The Marble Arch Road in Enniskillen was also difficult to navigate through.
However, a Met Office spokesperson noted that there would be an improving picture in the overnight period moving into Friday, and that the weekend should see the mercury rise slightly too.
“Eastern parts of Northern Ireland and particularly the higher places saw some snow on Thursday afternoon, but temperatures will start to recover throughout Friday, although there will be further outbreaks of rain on Friday morning,” they told The Belfast Telegraph.
“But, the bulk of rain, sleet and snow has been starting to continually and steadily clear northwards.”
A rainband is an area of rainfall where all the clouds and precipitation are stretched out in a long line or band.
The Met Office expert added that in NI, the rainband has been persistent and while many areas received snow, those that didn’t instead had wet conditions
The weekend will remain generally unsettled and there is continued low pressure across the UK, so further outbreaks and longer spells of rain are certainly likely.
“Temperatures throughout NI will increase over the course of the weekend and could reach up to 9°C on Saturday in Belfast, but there is still the risk of overnight rural frost and it will definitely still be cold come the next few evenings.”
Friday will also see the easing of some strong winds, and maximum temperatures are predicted to be around 4°C.
There will still be more outbreaks of rain on Saturday, but winds will again ease further.
Patchy rain is expected for Sunday, but it will be overall a lot drier with light winds.
Finally in NI, it should be mainly dry in the east on Monday, but freshening northwest winds will bring showery rain to the northwest.
Meanwhile, flood warnings have been issued for parts of Wales and England, which also had amber snow and ice warnings given on Thursday too.