WEATHER FORECAST: Kilkenny braced for big freeze this week with chance of snow on high ground

Kilkenny and most of the rest of the country are braced for a significant drop in temperatures – with snow possible on high ground before the end of the week.

Today and tomorrow will remain fairly mild, with temperature highs of 10 and 12 degrees.

However, Met Éireann has warned a cold front will set in overnight tomorrow and from Wednesday we will see wintry weather, with frost and highs of just four and five degrees on Thursday.

The national forecaster said today will be “gloomy, cloudy, drizzly” day with light breezes and outbreaks of rain, with temperatures of between six to nine degrees, with Tuesday set to be roughly the same.

But conditions will turn wintry on Wednesday as the meteorological winter kicks in from December 1.

“Wednesday morning we’ll be waking up to a different type of weather and a different day,” a Met Éireann forecaster said.

The fog will have cleared but it will be much cooler and more crisp, with heavier showers which will worsen in the northwest and Atlantic coastal counties by the afternoon.

From Wednesday night, it will be cold enough that some showers will turn wintry over high grounds, with snow becoming a possibility in hilly and mountainous areas.

Thursday will see the cold snap begin with temperature highs of just four or five  degrees with a northerly breeze.

Met Éireann said the cold weather will continue through to next weekend and possibly into early next week.