Met Eireann has issued a month long forecast for January as the weather is to remain unsettled.
The Beast From The East could be back as freezing weather sweeps across the country.
Temperatures will be well below normal this week with widespread and severe frost but will become less cold over the weekend.
Next week, Met Eireann says temperatures look like returning closer to average 'with a mainly southwesterly airflow establishing'.
By late January, there is a signal for weather conditions to remain fairly unsettled with low pressure situated close to Ireland.
Mean air temperatures are expected to be above average with a reduced risk of frost and ice.
The long range forecast predicts it will be wetter than average across most of the country towards the close of the month.
From Friday 29 January to Thursday 04 February, Met Eireann expect unsettled weather with rainfall totals are projected to be above average.
SSW event that previously caused Beast from the East
Met Eireann is expecting a Sudden Stratospheric Warming event, which brought large parts of Ireland to a standstill in the big freeze of 2018.
But forecasters are uncertain what effect it will have.
Met Eireann’s Paul Moore said: “Every such event is different and less than half of them lead to colder conditions here.
“For example, the SSW in February 2018 led to the Beast From The East and Storm Emma.
“Whereas the SSW in January 2019 had no significant impact here due to the easterly winds not propagating down into the troposphere from the stratosphere. It is uncertain how this will affect our weather in the coming weeks.
“It could kick-start the westerly momentum in our region, at least temporarily, as the Stratospheric Polar Vortex is pushed over Scandinavia, leading to a strengthening of the North Atlantic jet stream, resulting in a more typical winter weather pattern.”
Current week's forecast
Temperatures will drop to below zero each night this week, while daytime temperatures will struggle to reach 1C to 5C.
Today is set for isolated rain and sleet showers at coastal areas. However, some areas will catch a little sunshine too.
By Wednesday, we will again see a dry day with isolated showers but it will remain cold.
Met Eireann said there will be an afternoon temperature of just 1C or 2C, with even some sunshine.
And Thursday and Friday could see some snow.
Met Eireann added that monthly forecasts can provide an insight into weather patterns in the month ahead but they should not be used for specific planning purposes as they have lower accuracy compared with the 10-day forecast.
