Met Éireann has issued two yellow warnings for low temperatures and ice covering the entire South East.
The forecaster said conditions will be hazardous overnight on Wednesday and Thursday, with "a sharp to severe frost with icy surfaces as temperature widely fall to -4 degrees".
The first warning will begin at 12 am on Wednesday night/ Thursday morning and remain in place until 12 pm on Thursday.
The second warning will come into force at 10 pm on Thursday night and will continue until at least Friday at 10 am.
Fairly good agreement on this evenings weather model ensembles for the cold to last until the 14th but a lot of uncertainty beyond that. When the lines are tightly grouped it means they agree, the more scatter the more uncertainty. pic.twitter.com/37VGuxxQTv
— Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) December 5, 2022
The warnings come as Carlow Weather's Alan O'Reilly says that there is a "fairly good agreement" among available weather models that the cold weather will last "until December 14th at least."
Status Yellow - Low Temperature/Ice warning for Ireland ⚠️
Hazardous conditions. ⚠️
A sharp to severe frost with icy surfaces, as temperatures widely fall to - 4°C. ?
View all warnings here ?https://t.co/7aDQTqBXfP pic.twitter.com/TBaSczJBEA
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) December 6, 2022
The UK Met Office has issued a similar warning for the North from 12 am to 6 pm on Thursday, adding that "some disruption is likely due to icy surfaces".
On Sunday, Met Éireann issued a winter weather advisory, warning that an Arctic airmass will set in later this week, bringing a sharp fall in temperatures.
"Showers of hail, sleet and snow will occur during the second half of the week," the forecaster said, adding: "Updates with potential warnings will be issued in the coming days."
The general winter weather advisory will remain in place until Sunday this week.
