Ireland weather: Met Éireann issues freezing fog warning for 17 counties as temperatures of minus three degrees forecast tonight

Temperatures set to drop to minus three degrees overnight, but warmer conditions expected on Thursday

The freezing fog is expected to thicken overnight, turning dense in some areas, with widespread frost and some icy patches. Lowest temperatures are expected to range from zero to -3 degrees. File photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty
The freezing fog is expected to thicken overnight, turning dense in some areas, with widespread frost and some icy patches. Lowest temperatures are expected to range from zero to -3 degrees. File photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty

As temperatures are expected to drop to minus three degrees on Wednesday, Met Éireann has issued a weather warning for fog and freezing fog across the midlands and northwest.

The status yellow warning applies from 4pm on Wednesday to 6am Thursday and covers counties Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow, and also Connacht.

The fog is expected to thicken overnight, turning dense in some areas, with widespread frost and some icy patches. Lowest temperatures are expected to range from zero to -3 degrees, but turning less cold in Munster as rain arrives.

Thursday is set to bring some hazy sunshine in the north and east but it will be a cloudy and damp start in the south and west, with outbreaks of rain.

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Rain and drizzle will spread across most of the country through Thursday afternoon, but temperatures will rise to between 8 and 13 degrees.

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The outlook for Thursday night is for breezy conditions, with outbreaks of rain and drizzle across the western half of the country, with some heavy rain. It looks set to stay largely dry and overall a mild night is expected, with lowest temperatures between 9 and 12 degrees in fresh and gusty southerly winds.

Friday is forecast to be cloudy and damp. The highest temperatures will be 11 to 14 degrees in fresh and gusty southerly winds.

Breezy conditions are expected to continue on Saturday, with scattered outbreaks of rain and drizzle. More persistent rain will develop in Atlantic coastal counties during Saturday afternoon. It will be a mild day, with highest temperatures of 12 to 14 degrees in fresh and gusty southerly winds.

Further outbreaks of rain are expected on Saturday night, turning heavy in places with the chance of spot flooding, with lowest temperatures of 9 to 12 degrees in moderate southwest winds.

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien is an Irish Times journalist