Rainfall warning for some, dry for others

There will be a west-to-east split in weather conditions over the next two days as heavy rain in eastern and northeastern counties contrasts with largely sunny and dry conditions further west.

Apart from some scattered showers, Munster, the South Midlands, and parts of Connacht will stay largely dry until Thursday evening.

Temperatures here will range from 11 to 13°C with some overnight frosts in sheltered inland locations.

East Leinster and Ulster will bear the brunt of the heavy rainfall over the next 48 hours as an occluded front spreads north along Ireland’s eastern seaboard from Tuesday night into Wednesday.

A Status Yellow Rainfall warning has been issued for Northern Ireland and five counties of East Leinster. The UK Met Office is warning of persistent, and at times heavy, rain bringing some disruption to travel and potential for local flooding.

Met Éireann is warning of possible spot flooding between 9.00 pm on Tuesday and 2.00 PM on Wednesday as a band of heavy rain pushes north along the Irish Sea coastline.

There is a risk of sleet and wet snow on high ground before the system clears Ulster’s north coast on Wednesday evening, with settling snow likely over parts of the Wicklow/Dublin Mountains.

Temperatures in eastern and northern counties will struggle to rise above 7°C during Wednesday.

After a frosty, dry, and sunny start to Thursday, it will begin to cloud over from the southwest as a warm front approaches.

Scattered outbreaks of rain will push into southern and southwestern counties around nightfall and will slowly extend to the rest of Ireland on Thursday night and during Good Friday.

The system will introduce milder temperatures in the range of 11 to 14°C on Friday.

The remnants of the system will be slow to clear some places during Saturday morning, particularly in parts of the northwest.

Good dry spells are expected to develop in most other locations during the day.

Temperatures will once again drop to between 9 and 11°C as winds swing east to northeast.

Largely dry, overcast and cool conditions will persist through Easter Sunday.

An Atlantic system approaching from the west may bring some rain for a time on Monday before clearing to scattered showers.

The remainder of next week will bring a mix of sunshine and scattered showers carried on a cool north-to-northeast wind as a large area of high pressure builds to the northwest of Ireland.