Cold, wet and blustery weather in store for St Patrick’s Day

St Patrick banished the snakes (allegedly) but rain in March in Ireland remains as intractable a challenge as ever.

So the glorious (and welcome) spell of warm weather is set to end just as the paint is drying on the parade floats and the final tweaks are made to costumers.

While Dublin basked in temperatures of over 17 degrees in the Phoenix Park on Wednesday, a spell of cooler, more unsettled weather is fast approaching.

Temperatures will start dropping this afternoon and a cold night is in store with temperatures of 2 to 5 degrees.

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St Patrick's Day, Friday, will begin with rain and wind in Connacht and Ulster which will spread across the country in the afternoon.

It looks like rain will miss out the main Dublin parade which starts at midday though showers are likely to arrive in the afternoon.

Temperatures of between 9 and 13 degrees, well down on previous days, are forecast.

The outlook is not much better for the rest of the weekend with showers expected on Saturday across the country.

Sunday will be windy and cloudy with outbreaks of rain and drizzle especially in the west and north. Highest temperatures will be just between 11 to 13 degrees.

The St Patrick's Festival organisers in Dublin are expecting a record number of overseas visitors for the weekend as the Ireland v England Six Nations game in the Aviva Stadium will bring thousands of extra visitors to the city as English supporters bid to cheer on their team's attempt to win a second Grand Slam title in a row.

Last year’s St Patrick’s Festival attracted a total of 106,000 overseas visitors who spent an estimated €7 million in the Irish economy.