No change to TRENDS as described yesterday, mostly rather mild, some rain around Thursday but otherwise rather dry, briefly colder Thursday night and Friday. Winds often moderate westerly.
FORECASTS
TODAY will be cloudy with a few brighter intervals, showers brief and confined mainly to Ulster and north Connacht, north Leinster. It will slowly turn milder with the highest temperatures probably coming during the late afternoon and evening when it should be back up around 10 C (with mid-day readings closer to 6-8 C). Winds westerly 40-70 km/hr.
TONIGHT will be overcast and mild with occasional drizzle, moderate westerly winds, lows 7 to 9 C.
TUESDAY will be a very mild day just as the first of January was, and highs might be similar (14-15 C is possible in the south, 12-14 C more generally). Partly cloudy skies will make it quite a pleasant day for this time of year in the inland south and near the east coast as well as parts of the midlands. More overcast further north with a chance of drizzle or light rain at times. It may remain closer to 10 C in the far north.
WEDNESDAY will also be mild and generally dry although some outbreaks of light rain or drizzle might begin late afternoon or evening in the west. Highs near 12 C.
THURSDAY will become windy and wet with about 10-15 mm rainfalls, temperatures steady 8-10 C then falling sharply from west to east around the end of the day.
FRIDAY will be partly cloudy to overcast and cold with passing wintry showers, lows 1-3 C and highs 4-7 C.
It will likely turn a bit milder in stages to Sunday and early Monday when another frontal system is expected, with another somewhat colder spell following that for a day or two, but milder air seems likely to keep coming back and the monthly outlook is milder than average by at least one and possibly two degrees, with perhaps somewhat below normal rainfall although not as dry as January has been.
The Irish Weather Online daily long-range forecast is provided by Peter O'Donnell.