Big freeze unlikely to thaw for at least 10 days

OUTLOOK:IRELAND IS facing into a 10-day cold snap similar to the big freeze last winter.

Sub-zero temperatures, along with freezing fog and snow showers, will become the norm for the foreseeable future with further record November lows expected later this week.

Many parts of the country saw heavy snowfall and freezing conditions over the weekend, causing widespread travel disruption.

The Department of Education said it would be up to individual schools to decide whether or not they are going to close.

The lowest temperature for November since records began was recorded yesterday morning at 9am when the temperature at Casement Aerodrome outside Dublin was minus 9.1 degrees, beating the previous record of minus 7.2 which was recorded in 1952 and 1972.

The ground temperature early yesterday morning fell as low as minus 14 in the Phoenix Park.

Even those temperatures were surpassed in Powys, central Wales, where the temperature plummeted to minus 18.

The Irish record is likely to be surpassed on Wednesday and Thursday nights, according to Met Éireann, which is forecasting freezing night-time temperatures until next weekend when temperatures will rise slightly, only to fall back again next week.

Daytime temperatures this week will hover between freezing and 3 degrees, and night-time temperatures will be between minus 3 and minus 6 today and tomorrow, but a severe cold spell will settle in on Wednesday and Thursday. Minimum air temperatures of minus 10 are expected.

“It could even be lower, so the records set will be broken within this coming week,” warned Met Éireann spokeswoman Evelyn Cusack.

There is also a possibility there will be heavy falls of snow in coastal areas, particularly in Dublin and Donegal over the coming days, though Ms Cusack said, by and large, it will be a “Scandinavian-type cold,” with “dazzling sunshine” and dry conditions.

“The east coast will be always under threat, but the wind is coming in from the east and northeast, picking up showers from the Irish Sea,” she added.

The cause of the exceptionally cold temperatures will be a direct run of Arctic air coming from Siberia and Scandinavia which will bring freezing temperatures to northern and central Europe for the next 10 days, according to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting.

“Temperatures in the source area are down to minus 20. We are basically being hit by Siberian and Arctic airs, hence the lower temperatures,” she said.

Similar conditions led to the cold snap last year which lasted for about a month, but she said it was too early to say there would be a repeat of such a protracted spell.

FORECAST TODAY'S WEATHER

IT WILL be bitterly cold today with frost and icy conditions persisting on untreated roads and pavements. Heavy snow showers over the north and northeast will move further inland to affect parts of north Connacht and east Leinster later in the day.

Maximum temperatures will be just minus 1 to two degrees degrees, in a light to moderate east to northeast breeze.

Temperatures tonight will range from minus 5 to minus 6 .