‘Beast from the East’ rumours have been swirling in recent weeks, with fears a ‘major’ weather event could trigger an extreme bout of snow in March.
READ MORE: Holiday warnings for Irish heading to Spain, Portugal, Italy and more European spots this summer WXCharts pinpoints Sunday, March 5 as the exact day heavy snow could start falling, showing more wintry showers right through until Friday, March 10. In an update on Friday, the national forecaster said: “A Sudden Stratospheric Warming is on-going, which adds a high degree of uncertainty to the overall forecast. Given that caveat, the overall signal from the seasonal models for Ireland during spring , is for slightly above average temperatures with average rainfall.
Met Eireann’s forecast for the week of February 27 to March 5 reads: “A very settled week with high pressure dominant, mainly centred to the north of Ireland. As a result, Ireland will lie in an easterly airflow this week. Rainfall levels will be well below normal across the country for the time of year, and there will be no strong winds. Mean air temperatures will be average or slightly below average. No warnings or hazardous weather expected.
It’s monthly forecast concludes with the week of March 20 to March 25, which reads: “For Week 4, indications show that high pressure will build to the north of Ireland, with low pressure trending to the south. An easterly airflow is signalled for Ireland with average temperatures for time of year or slightly below. Below normal rainfall is signalled for the western half of the country.”