A weather expert has warned that a "sudden" weather phenomenon could hit the country in the middle of this month.
Alan O' Reilly of Carlow Weather has said that weather models are forecasting an increased risk of a Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) for the middle of February.
A SSW occurs when rapid warming occurs high up in the stratosphere, which can lead to changes in our weather down below. SSW's typically relate to extreme cold or winter events, such as the beast from the east in 2018.
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However, a SSW doesn't occur every year and it doesn't always affect our weather when it does.
These warmings can generally be predicted a week in advance and possibly even earlier through the use of satellite. The SSW takes a number of weeks to take effect on our weather systems.
These westerly flows of cold weather like the beast from the east can sometimes be broken up by normal weather patters or disturbances, for example, high pressure in the northern hemisphere.
They are often strong enough to break up these potentially chilly and icy winter weather events.
Mr O' Reilly added: "Any possible impacts on our weather are uncertain but if we do see an impact it would likely be into March."
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