Temperatures to drop to below freezing over the weekend

Temperatures are set to drop later on in the week as the weather remains largely mild.

Saturday morning the Connacht and Ulster areas will get some rain, clearing to the southeast by the afternoon.

Southwest will remain moderate to fresh, becoming westerly once the rain clears. On Saturday night, scattered showers will continue in Connacht and Ulster as they mostly die out in Leinster and Munster.

Some patches of mist will creep over the land, with temperatures dropping to 0C to 4C with frost also developing in some places.

Sunday will be cool and bright with only a handful of scattered showers. Patches of drizzle may affect coastal areas, temperatures will reach 6C to 9C with some southwest breezes.

Sunday night will have one or two coastal showers but will remain mainly dry, temperatures drop to 0C to 4C with frost sprawling over the eastern half of the country.

Met Eireann has forecast the sun to shine on Monday morning with some rain darkening Connacht and Ulster in the afternoon and evening.

The week is set to remain cool at 9C to 11C with some moderate to fresh southerly winds. Monday night will see the persistence of rain over Ulster, Connacht and parts of west Munster.

The rest of the day will alternate between sunny spells and scattered showers, remaining chilly at 8C to 11C.

Tuesday morning will have the rain turn heavy in the western half of the country while the east is set to experience showers.

The heavy rain will reach over to the east in the afternoon and evening until it clears on Tuesday night with just a pocketful of showers. Tuesday night will be cold at 0C to 4C.

Temperates are set to drop on Wednesday at 7C to 9C with mainly sunny spells and a few light showers near the west and north coasts.

Wednesday night will see the temperature plummet to below freezing at -2C to +2C with frost developing in many areas.

Unsettled weather will start to take hold of the country by Thursday although the day will start dry with sunny spells.

Rain will move in from the west and spread across the country by Thursday evening with temperatures of 5C to 8C. Friday and the weekend will carry unsettled weather with spells of both rain and showers throughout the days.