With an unstable airmass currently over Ireland, today's showers have been quite heavy due to the large temperature differences between the air at surface level and above.
Met Eireann has said that the air at the surface is around 7°C and the air at 5km above ground level is -36°C today.
"When the air above is very cold, any air that gets lifted by daytime heating travels upwards faster and for longer. That's when we get large cumulonimbus clouds bringing hail or thunder," they said.
As for Sunday's forecast, the morning is expected to be cold and bright with sunny spells.
However, there will be isolated showers of rain or sleet during the morning too. The rain will also fall in Connacht and west Ulster.
Afternoon temperatures will range between 5 to 9 degrees, coldest in Ulster and "cold, wintry weather will keep the tree pollen risk low for the remainder of the weekend," they state.
Sunday night will be cloudy with outbreaks of light rain, most frequent in the west and north.
Stay warm because the lowest temperatures will range from 0 to +3 degrees, coldest in Ulster and Munster.
Speaking about Sunday's forecast, Met Éireann meteorologist Emer Flood has said: "Along with bright spells of sunshine over the weekend, the cold Arctic airmass will bring the chance of scattered wintry showers of sleet and hail, especially on Saturday. There’ll also be a risk of thunderstorms, as well as snow showers over the hills and mountains. Showers will be lighter and less widespread on Sunday."
Looking ahead to next week, Flood continued: “Later on Sunday, conditions will turn less cold, as northerly winds are replaced by slightly milder westerly winds. Monday will be a cloudier day with rain spreading from the west to most areas during the day. Temperatures will be slightly up from the weekend too, with highs of around 7 to 10 Celsius.”
