‘Lots of rain’, some hail and thunderstorms forecast this weekend

‘Lots of rain’ appears to be the short summary of the weather forecast in the run up to St Patrick’s Day on March 17th.

As March is the meteorological spring, weather conditions usually transition this month with high pressures generally bringing more settled weather, giving rise to the expression that March comes “in like a lion and out like like a lamb”.

However, there is little sign on the horizon of anything other than more rain, interspersed with sunny spells, with some hail and occasional thunder thrown in for good measure.

Met Éireann has issued a Status Yellow small craft warning forecasting force six 6 or 7 south to south easterly winds on Friday evening from Hook Head to Loop Head to Erris Head. The winds are expected to transfer to eastern coasts on Friday night.

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Saturday should see the outbreaks of rain becoming largely confined to southern and eastern counties while clear spells develop elsewhere.

The rain will gradually clear overnight but showers will arrive on western and northwestern coasts towards Sunday morning with lowest temperatures of 2 to 5 degrees overnight.

West to southwest winds will fall light or moderate in most parts but remaining fresh to strong near west and northwest coasts.

Sunday looks set to be a cold and showery day as light to moderate westerly breezes turn northwesterly and freshen. Some of the showers will be heavy with hail and a risk of isolated thunderstorms. Top temperatures will rise to between 7 and 10 degrees but it will feel colder in breezes.

While Sunday night will become mainly dry with clear spells it will be a very cold night with lows of minus 1 to plus 2 degrees, with widespread frost and a risk of icy patches.

Current indications suggest Monday will start dry and sunny spells. Cloud will thicken from the Atlantic during the morning with some rain and drizzle moving into western and northwestern counties later in the day, but it should stay dry further south and east.

Temperatures will recover quite quickly after a cold and frosty start for some, reaching 9 to 11 degrees in the afternoon in freshening south to southwest winds.

At the moment Tuesday, St Patrick's Day looks like a cloudy day with outbreaks of rain although it may become drier in some northern areas. Mild with highs of 9 to 13 degrees and light variable breezes. All St Patrick's Day parades have been cancelled.