- New Year's Day is forecast to be a cold, bright and windy
- Some of the showers of hail may merge into longer spells of rain
- It will be blustery and wet on Tuesday, with fresh to strong and gusty southwest winds
DUBLIN, Ireland - 2018 in Ireland is off to a wet, cold and windy start, with the Met Eireann forecasting a similar week ahead.
The weather body has said that New Year's Day will be a cold, bright and rather windy day with sunny spells and scattered showers.
Met Eireann further noted that some of the showers of hail may merge into longer spells of rain in parts of the north.
It is also forecasting that there is a slight risk of a thundery burst.
Meanwhile, on Monday, a status yellow wind warning remains in place for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare and Kerry.
Met Eireann said that Northwesterly winds with mean speeds between 50km/h and 65km/h and gusts between 90km/h and 110km/h are expected along coastal areas.
Since morning, frost set in as temperatures fell to between 1°C and 4°C, but freshening winds were set to bring rain eastwards later in the night, clearing the frost.
On Tuesday, the weather body said the day would be blustery and wet, with fresh to strong and gusty southwest winds and afternoon temperatures of 7°C to 10°C.
The rain is forecast to clear eastwards to showers early on Tuesday night and the day is set to be windy.
The Met Eireann has added that Wednesday is also set to be cold and windy, with strong to gale force westerly winds.
However, some sunny spells with frequent bursts of heavy rain and hail showers are expected and will result in sleet and snow on hills and mountains.
By Wednesday night, rain will become more widespread.
On Thursday and Friday, there will be heavy rain early in the day, which will clear to brighter weather with showers by afternoon.
Stormy conditions for western coastal counties is expected later on Thursday, or overnight into Friday.
Friday will be much colder, with wintry showers, but winds are forecast to ease later in the day.
7.8 ℃