A bitter weekend lies ahead.

Met Éireann has issued a status yellow snow/ice weather for six counties ahead of what is set to be a pretty bitter weekend on the weather front. The warning applies to Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo and comes into effect at a minute after midnight tonight, remaining in place until just before midnight on Saturday night. Met Éireann has warned that wintry showers will give localised accumulations of hail and snow, compacting to ice in some areas and leading to hazardous driving conditions. The warning comes after a status yellow wind warning was issued for Donegal earlier on Friday. Gusts of 90 to 110 km/h have been forecast, with the risk of even stronger winds in coastal areas. The warning came into effect at 5pm on Friday and will remain in place until 5pm on Saturday. Overall, the forecast is for a cold and fairly miserable weekend, with temperatures reaching no higher than 6 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, when there will be scattered wintry showers and some lying snow. Temperatures will plunge to below zero in some areas on Saturday and Sunday night, with the cold conditions set to prevail until the middle of next week, when the weather is forecast to become milder and more unsettled.