The country is in for a brutal weekend of weather with experts warning an 'Arctic airmass' is set to bring some very unseasonably cold weather.
However that's not before the country is basked in sunshine in the coming days before a dramatic shift this weekend.
Sunny spells are set to grace most of the country throughout Thursday and Friday but temperatures are set to plummet on the weekend with snow set to arrive as early as Friday.
A Met Eireann forecaster said: "We'll see a return to some unseasonably very cold weather this weekend, with an arctic airmass becoming re-established over the country. There'll be plenty of sunshine and northerly winds will be mostly light overall, but there'll be some wintry showers, with these most widespread across the country on Saturday. The showers will become more isolated on Sunday as pressure builds temporarily from the west. It will be extremely cold by night, with widespread sharp, locally severe, frosts.
"Becoming breezy today, and while there'll be some bright or sunny intervals, the best of these in southern parts, there'll be a good lot of cloud overall.
"It will hold mainly dry for much of the day for most, apart from some passing showers. There'll be more in the way of showery rain at times though in the north and northwest, with a spell of more persistent and at times heavy rain developing in the northwest during the afternoon, and starting to spread southeastwards.
"The band of rain will continue to move down across the country overnight, becoming lighter as it does, clearing from the south coast at around dawn or a little after. Clear spells will follow from the northwest overnight, with a scattering of showers in parts of Ulster and North Connacht, a few turning wintry in the north.
"Friday, will bring plenty of sunshine and while there'll be a lot of dry weather, there'll be showers too and some of these will turn heavy, with some hail. There'll be scattered sleet showers too, mainly in Ulster and also later on too in North Connacht and in North Leinster.
"There'll be some snow also as the day goes on, mainly in Ulster and especially over the hills and mountains. There's a chance of thunder too, mainly in Ulster.
"Turning very cold on Friday night with temperatures dropping to between -4 to +2 degrees, and with a widespread sharp, locally severe, frost forming as winds will be mostly light and variable. Wind will be mostly moderate north to northeasterly in some coastal parts of the north and west. It will be dry in most places, though there'll be scattered rain, hail, sleet and snow showers in parts of the north and northwest, with a chance of thunder too.
"Saturday will be a cold, bright day with good spells of sunshine and it will be dry in many places to begin, but cloud will be bubbling up and showers of rain, hail and sleet in parts of the north and northwest, will become more widespread later in the morning and into the afternoon and early evening. There'll be some thunderstorms too.
"There'll be some snow showers also, especially over the hills and mountains, but possibly even to some lower levels too in northern parts. There'll still be plenty of dry, bright weather around throughout the day and the showers will become more isolated later in the evening.
"The showers will mostly die away early on Saturday night and the bulk of the country will be dry with mostly clear skies. There'll still be a few scattered showers though, some wintry, in northern and northwestern parts and also in northeastern and eastern coastal parts and a few mainly rain showers skirting western coasts.
"There'll be another widespread sharp, locally severe frost, with temperatures dropping again to a very cold -4 to 0 degrees in general, though around 1 or 2 degrees along coastal margins of the west and northwest."
