Ireland's gloriously unpredictable weather was in full display today as the country was hit by heavy rain, hail, snow, sunshine and near gale force winds.
There was cold, wet, dull, bright and warm conditions in the south, east and west as we really did experience four seasons in one day.
An unsettled weekend is in store as heavy rain and near gale force winds are on the cards for many areas.
However, there will be some respite for people in the east of the country with temperatures in Dublin set to hit 15C on Sunday.
Forecaster Matthew Martin of Met Eireann said: “We’re going to have a fairly unsettled weekend.
“It’s going to start off cold early on Saturday morning with a touch of frost and that’s going to readily clear.
“It will then be generally dry but it will get increasingly cloudy in the west during the morning and then we’re gonna have some scattered outbreaks of rain moving across the country.
“There won’t be to much rain in the east and southeast but across west Connacht and west Ulster there will be quite a bit.
“People in those areas will get a fair fall of rain, nothing too significant but it might be 10mm-to-20mm or a little bit higher over high ground.
Mr Martin warned it will not be a nice afternoon or evening across Connacht and west Ulster.
“It will be quite windy and rainy so not too pleasant.
“The temperatures are about average for the time of year and between 8C and 11C with the warmest areas likely to be Clare and the southwest of the country,” he said.
“Shannon Airport will probably get the best temperatures.”
The forecaster said conditions will improve in some parts of the country on Sunday with the east expected to be the brightest and warmest.
“The east and the Phoenix Park in Dublin should hit a peak of 15C.
“Across the north coast people can expect temperatures of about 9C or 10C, in the Midlands 10C to 13C and further south maybe 12C to 14C.
Mr Martin said counties such Atlantic coastal counties such as Mayo, Galway and Donegal are expected to see the worst conditions on Sunday.
However, it will be dry and settled in the east of the country with temperatures above average and peaking at 15C.
“We’ll still have that low pressure system south of Iceland so we’re going to have a westerly airflow over the country.
“There’ll be scattered outbreaks of rain,” he said.
“There will be some dry periods too but it’ll be generally cloudy with patchy outbreaks of rain and drizzle.”
The meteorologist said after the weekend conditions are expected to remain unsettled for a couple of days.
He added: “As we go into the start of the week there’s not much change, we have a weather front that’s lying over the country.
“It’ll bring sporadic outbreaks of rain and drizzle for Monday and Tuesday.
“It will be quite mild in terms with temperatures ranging from 13C to 16C.
“Beyond that it looks like there is a trend of conditions settling down towards the Easter weekend.”
