Ireland weather: Cold northerly air mass moves in as Met Éireann forecasts near-zero temperatures

Temperatures could drop to near-zero in parts of Ireland on Thursday night before leading in to a “chilly” Friday, Met Éireann has said.
Chills felt in some areas on Thursday morning look set to be repeated on Friday, though the forecaster predicts rising temperatures in the days ahead.
While highs of 12 to 14 degrees are expected during the day with “plenty of sunshine”, Thursday night will be cold, reaching lows of 1 to 4 degrees.
Alongside that, Met Éireann forecasts a few mist patches forming and “perhaps even a touch of grass frost”.
However, the chances of frost are slim as the ground is not cooling quite as much as the air, said Met Éireann meteorologist Joanna Donnelly who attributed the recent temperature drop to a cold northerly air mass.
The cold front which came on Tuesday placed Ireland in a “distinctly different air mass”, she said, resulting in chillier than normal temperatures since then.
Clear skies on Wednesday night amid the cold northerly air mass resulted in falling temperatures which carried through to Thursday morning.
“While unusual enough for this time of year, it’s not massively exceptional and the cold snap is probably going to end when a warm front comes through on Friday.
“We’re not looking at soaring temperatures but they will just recover enough,” she said.
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Friday morning will be mostly dry with sunny spells but “chilly” overall, though it looks set to remain dry.
Temperatures will climb to highs of 14 to 16 degrees, with Friday night set to be mild with patches of rain and drizzle across the west and north of the country.
Following highs of 14 to 17 degrees on Saturday, outbreaks of rain and drizzle will extend nationwide at night, while Sunday will be generally dry with temperatures potentially reaching 19 degrees before outbreaks of rain returning at night.
Although generally cloudy conditions are expected on Monday, with patches of rain and drizzle, highs of 17 to 22 degrees are predicted.
Temperatures will climb to highs of 20 to 23 degrees on Tuesday which looks set to be warm and mostly sunny.