Winter isn’t just coming, it seems; it’s already here.

Following repeated weather warnings for wind and rain in the last few days, Ireland is set to be hit with a blast of chilly weather in the coming weekend, well before the arrival of winter. Although the weekend in general won’t be as miserable as some of what we’ve had to put up with lately, Met Éireann is predicting that ground temperatures will dip below zero in some rural areas in Ireland on Saturday night. It won’t be that cold everywhere, but it won’t exactly be tropical either, with lowest temperatures of two to six degrees under clear skies forecast for Saturday night after a cool and blustery day on Saturday, with heavy showers developing throughout the afternoon. ‘Blustery’ seems to be something of a theme over the coming days, with a mixture of scattered showers and sunny spells on Thursday and Friday, both of which will feel rather cool due to fresh northwesterly winds. In better news, it looks as if conditions will improve from Sunday onwards. A mainly dry and sunny day is forecast for Sunday with temperatures of 15 to 17 degrees, while temperatures will remain in the high teens throughout Tuesday and Wednesday in far milder conditions than what we’ve experienced already this week. Until then, however, best get an extra blanket ready for bed just in case.