So much for winter being over.

Met Éireann says there will be snow in Ireland on Friday night, as widespread showers across the country are set to turn wintry in places. The forecaster has also predicted "persistent and heavy" rain for the weekend. Before then, Thursday will be mostly cloudy to begin with scattered showers or longer spells of rain. However, there will be some bright or sunny intervals developing as the day goes on. Showers will become frequent and heavy in the west towards evening as temperatures range from 10 to 13 degrees. On Thursday night, those showers will merge into longer spells of rain, with some heavy falls in the west early in the evening that will extend eastwards across the country overnight. Colder conditions along with hail and sleet will follow from the Atlantic later in the night too. Friday will be a cold and windy day with blustery showers, mainly in western areas at first, but becoming widespread in the afternoon. Some of the showers will be heavy with hail and sleet and a risk of isolated thunderstorms. It will feel noticeably colder with temperatures of just 5 to 8 degrees and an added wind chill factor. On Friday night, widespread showers will continue for a time early on. Some of them will be wintry - with hail, sleet and snow, as well as ongoing risk of isolated thunderstorms. The showers will gradually become confined to Atlantic coastal counties overnight as temperatures range from zero to 3 degrees, with a risk of frost. Saturday will start mostly dry, with sunny spells in the east and north before outbreaks of rain and drizzle develop in western coastal counties during the morning. Later in the day, those conditions will spread elsewhere throughout the afternoon and evening. The rain will turn persistent and heavy in parts of the west, accompanied by increasingly strong and gusty winds. It will be wet and very windy for a time on Saturday night, with gales near coasts, before conditions become more moderate. Sunday will be a breezy day with some bright or sunny spells early on, before it will become mostly cloudy with scattered outbreaks of rain and drizzle. These conditions will continue into Sunday night. Met Éireann says it shouldn't be cold and rainy for too much longer, as current indications suggest a transition towards drier conditions by the middle of next week.