Ireland could be in for another bitterly cold and wintry January with the possible return of the same weather system that caused the Beast from the East this year.
Met Eireann says that the current mild conditions brought on by a sudden stratospheric warming has the potential to be followed by much colder conditions.
The British Met Office says the UK is currently in the middle of what's called a "sudden stratospheric warning".
Met Eireann's Liz Walsh says it's too early to say if we'll get more extreme weather:
"Around the atmosphere, you can get deep differences in temperature between cold air coming down from the north and then warm air rising from the south," she said.
"You could have very cold air over the US, but warmer air over the Atlantic and then colder air again over Europe or possibly, over Asia."
"The closest comparison we have from our forecasts is the event in 1982,” Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said at the time.
Temperatures fell as low as -7C at the Bay of Biscay last February.
