Another 'Beast from the East' snow event could arrive next week

A spell of unusually cold weather is expected next week, with forecasters saying there's a real possibility of a "significant snow event" for the first time since 2018.

Current weather model predictions show very cold air from Siberia, spreading eastwards over the country, resulting in moderate to heavy falls of snow in the early days of next week.

Offaly man Cathal Nolan, of Ireland's Weather Channel on Facebook, said it was too early to say with certainty how the week is going to play out.

However, he sees potential for "the most severe spell of wintry weather, in terms of duration, since December 2010, with the possibility of snowfall events that could rival that of Storm Emma from March 2018."

Storm Emma, the so-called 'Beast From The East', blanketed the country in snow three years ago, closing schools, and causing the cancellation of numerous sporting, social and community events.

Next week, temperatures during the daytime might not get above freezing, while night time temperatures could drop to as low as minus-10 degrees!

"We have an active area of low pressure sitting across the country at the moment, it's what brought the very heavy rain we experienced during the week, and that's expected to last for the next couple of days, bringing us up to the weekend," said Cathal.

"By the weekend however, that low pressure will sink back towards the south of the country opening the gates to allow for cold air which originated in Siberia to flow in across the country, and by Sunday we'll see temperatures really starting to tumble, bringing a risk of snow in many parts of the Midlands in the early days of next week."

The cold weather system contains many of the elements that resulted in the 'Beast from the East' in 2018.

"It's very difficult at present to predict which areas will be affected, but what we can certain about is that the Midlands is a high-risk area early next week of seeing some heavy snow falls," said Cathal.

Cathal says that if snow cover remains on the ground, we could see temperatures approaching minus-10 at night time.

"Just how much snow we will see will be determined by location. In certain areas you could see 10 - 15cm of snow, which is a substantial amount for Ireland, but generally we could see between 5 - 10cm by the middle of next week.

"I have to point out though, that this is all based upon weather models at the moment, which are subject to change."