Break out the hot water bottles, woolly jumpers, electric blankets, and Irish coffees – it's going to be a cold winter in Ireland.
It's been a tempestuous year, weather-wise, with Ireland battered by Storm Ophelia. But a forecaster is now saying that the second half of November into December will bring a major cold snap to Ireland and the UK – potentially rivaling the Big Freeze of 2010, which brought the Emerald Isle to a standstill.
As illustrated in the below video, Piers Corbyn of WeatherAction is warning that temperatures could dip to as low as 14F (-10C).
As he told London's Daily Express:
“Apart from some cold snaps the first half of November is looking relatively average for the time of year with some milder periods.
“However during the second half of the month there is a greater risk of things tuning much colder and this will bring a greater threat of snow. “Scotland and the far north will get the coldest conditions with temperatures dipping possibly to -10C or below.”
By comparison, the Big Freeze of 2010, which also began in late November, brought temperatures as low as 1F (-17C) in County Mayo, and December went on to be the coldest month on record.
As Joe.ie notes, one potential highlight to the freezing weather is the possibility of a White Christmas:
Ladbrokes have slashed their odds of a White Christmas in the UK from 2/1 to 5/6, while Paddy Power have the odds of it snowing on the big day in Dublin at 5/1, and Belfast at 4/1.
However, the White Christmas of 2010 in fact wreaked havoc with holiday plans as Ireland's airports shut down, leaving thousands of travelers unable to get home for the holidays.
Here's hoping 2017 doesn't come close to that level of cold!
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