Stormy weather: unsettled conditions to continue

COLD AND unsettled weather is to persist over the coming days but the high winds experienced in some areas of the country yesterday are set to ease.

A severe weather warning from Met Éireann, predicting winds of 100km/h to 140 km/h in Connacht and Ulster, expired last night.

The high winds prompted the Road Safety Authority and Irish Coast Guard to issue warnings to motorists and the owners of sea vessels to take extreme care.

Wind speeds of to 145km/h were recorded in Donegal yesterday morning before the weather system moved towards Scotland.

The UK Met Office said winds of up to 265km/h were recorded in Scotland yesterday, leaving thousands without power and affecting roads, schools and air travel from Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The high winds were among the strongest ever recorded in Scotland with the record stretching back to 1986, when 278km/h gusts were recorded at Cairngorm point.

Met Éireann said today would get off to a breezy start but that winds were likely to moderate by the afternoon.

Daytime temperatures are expected to stay between 4 and 7 degrees and showers are forecast for western parts of Connacht and Ulster and these may turn wintry over higher ground.

Met Éireann has forecast freezing conditions overnight with temperatures of 0 to minus 3 degrees bringing widespread sharp frost and a risk of ice developing on the roads.

Further cold conditions are expected tomorrow with scattered rain or hail showers forecast to hit northern and western areas.

Dry and bright spells are anticipated in other areas but daytime temperatures are not expected to rise above 7 degrees.

Conditions are forecast to turn milder tomorrow night, with temperatures ranging from 4 to 7 degrees, as a band of rain crosses the country.