Cork weather: Met Éireann issues early forecast for Christmas Day

Met Éireann has given an early indication of the weather conditions expected for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

While we may not get a white Christmas, the country certainly looks set for a cold one, according to the latest forecast.

"Christmas Eve will be cold with sunny spells and a good deal of dry weather, but a few showers also. 

"Highest temperatures of 4 to 7 degrees with light to moderate northwest breezes. 

"It looks like there'll be frost on Christmas Eve night," the national forecaster stated. 

"At the moment, Christmas Day looks like being a cold and mainly dry day with some bright spells, but with the possibility of rain developing in the west later," Met Éireann continued. 

Meanwhile, Cathal Nolan, Climate Change Researcher at UCC and Founder of Ireland's Weather Channel indicated that snow in Cork is unlikely over the Christmas period, but that it might occur in areas of higher ground in the Midlands and northern half of the country.

"The answer in short is that most of us won’t have a white Christmas, however snow is likely to lie on the ground in Ireland during the Christmas period. 

"A number of low pressure systems will impact Ireland prior to Christmas itself with one of these systems in particular expected to produce some heavy snow for a time across higher ground above 300 metres, and also the risk of some falls of snow in the Midlands and northern half of the country," he stated.

Mr Nolan added that snowfall is more likely over the New Year period. 

"However, towards the New Years period there is gathering evidence that Ireland may experience its coldest and possibly snowiest outbreak since 'the beast from the east' in 2018. 

"Indications suggest that our weather will become very wintry indeed with a blocking high pressure across Iceland and low pressure over France, feeding in a mixture of sunshine and heavy snow showers, with heavy falls of snow in many parts of the country, though especially in the north, east and in the Midlands," he stated. 

In the meantime, Cork is set for a cool and bright weekend with sunny spells and scattered showers.