‘Sudden stratospheric warming’ raises fears of another Beast from the East

KILKENNY and the rest of the country continues to enjoy unseasonably warm temperatures, a welcome calm after the storm conditions we experienced in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

However, Met Éireann has warned Ireland is in the midst of a “sudden stratospheric warming”, a phenomenon that caused the so-called ‘Beast from the East’ earlier this year.

A sudden stratospheric warming occurred last year before the Beast from the East’ battered Ireland, the UK and Europe.

The national forecaster stressed this does not necessarily mean it will happen again. But it is extremely likely we will endure far colder conditions over the coming weeks.

Met Eireann’s Liz Walsh said: “It is too early to say how it will affect Ireland, the UK will get any cold weather first and it could make its way over to us then.

“We couldn’t possibly say if we will get a bad spell like we did last year, a lot of things have to come together for weather like last February and March.

“That kind of weather doesn’t come around too often. It is more likely and we will probably have a much colder spell from mid to late January after the mild spells we are currently experiencing.”