Snowfall 'possible' on higher ground

Children wishing for a snow day as they returned to school this week, look set to be disappointed. While there is a possibility of snow at the weekend it will be patchy and on higher ground, Met Éireann has said.

Sub-zero night time temperatures are set to continue for the coming days with frosty, foggy and icy conditions, Met Éireann forecaster Pat Clarke said.

“There might be sleet or snow on higher grounds in bits and pieces,” but there was “no strong signal” for much snow he said. If snow fell it would be on higher ground in the west an north, he said.

Conditions, which will see night time temperatures fall as low as -3 degrees tonight and over the weekend, are “normal” for this time of year, Mr Clarke said.

The exceptionally mild conditions over the early New Year had been due to weather from the Atlantic which changed earlier this week, he said.

Tonight will see widespread frost and fog with icy stretches developing with temperatures as low as -3 degrees in some parts.

Saturday night will also see widespread frost and a threat of icy patches and temperatures of 0 to -3 degrees, Met Eireann has forecast.

Sunday will remain quite cold with daytime temperatures only climbing to between 3 and 6 degrees. Some rain along the west coast will fall as sleet and snow on higher grounds and will spread eastwards.

Mr Clarke said there was a significant possiblity of snow in Britain.

Scotland and the east coast of England will face the worst of the weather, but all parts of the UK could experience snowfall, according to MeteoGroup.

In the Middle East, the biggest snowstorm to hit Jerusalem in more than two decades shut down much of the city today, after four days of heavy rain also caused flood damage and power outages in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Two Palestinian women were drowned in flash floods in the West Bank yesterday, the Wafa news agency said. Israeli army rescue units used military helicopters and naval boats to assist people stranded by rising waters at several locations throughout the country.

The snow in Jerusalem, forecast to reach at least 20 centimeters before tapering off today, closed the main highway from Tel Aviv and shut down public transportation in the city.

January and February the months in which snowis most frequent in the State according to Met Éireann. However in the past snow there has been snow in May and September.

The greatest depth of snow recorded in the State was 45cm at Casement Aerodrome in 1962/1963.

Additional reporting PA/Bloomberg