We are set for heavy rain, thunderstorms and frost - as low pressure moves in.
After over a week of wall-to-wall sunshine and temperatures climbing over 20C, the recent 'mini-heatwave' will be replaced by a monster 486km long wall of rain. The national forecaster has sounded the alarm for the coming days, with Sunday set to mark the moment when the weather turns miserable.
Alan O'Reilly from Carlow Weather said: “A fine morning with a little cloud but still plenty of sunshine today.
“Cloud will increase from the east with some scattered showers moving into western areas but most will stay dry.”
He added: “Showers will return for more areas over the coming days but rainfall amounts look small enough for many areas. It will feel cooler from Sunday though.”
Met Eireann’s Deirdre Lowe warned that a low pressure is taking over.
She said: “As the blocking area of high pressure that brought the dry sunny conditions to Ireland moves away to Eastern Europe, low pressure will move in to take its place.
“This means we can expect more typical weather for the time of year for Sunday and for the week ahead.
“There will be a mixture of sunny spells and April showers with a noticeable drop in temperatures.”
Today will bring “occasional spells of sunshine” but showers may develop near the east coast and move to the west by afternoon.
Deirdre said: “For today it will be a transition day. Overnight mist and fog will clear this morning, followed by a generally cloudier day than of late with occasional spells of sunshine.
“Some showers may develop near to the east coast and in the afternoon rain and drizzle will move into the west, edging further eastwards in the evening.
“Sunny spells will follow to Atlantic coastal areas again late on in the day as it turns noticeably cooler and fresher there. Highs of 12C to 17C.”
The meteorologist said: “Tomorrow will bring a mix of sunny spells and scattered showers with the chance of hail and thunder.
“More prolonged showers will develop in the west in the evening, moving east early tomorrow night.
Sunshine will turn to showers on Monday morning and become heavier by the afternoon.
Deirdre said: “Monday will then start out dry with sunshine for many but scattered showers near the Atlantic coast will become fairly widespread by the afternoon.
The short lived sunny conditions and high temperatures will be replaced with unsettled conditions over the weekend and into next week.
Temperatures across the country reached well above the average for April, soaring into the high teens to low 20s over the last week
