A retired Donegal postman famous for his weather predictions based on traditional methods says Ireland is in for a “very, very cold winter.”
Michael Gallagher has shared his forecast for winter 2020 and says Christmas could be white.
"That's just one day, it's hard to be that exact about it.
"But I know there will be snow, and it will be close to Christmas Day. It will be there or thereabouts."
He also warned that there will be an East Wind.
"Any wind that you get from the east, that's a unhealthy wind and it brings a lot of flus and colds," he went on.
"It's a time when people should keep warm."
Gallagher, a Glenfin native, worked for An Post for 48 years delivering mail in the Bluestack Mountains. During that time, he became friendly with many elderly people living there, who taught him the traditional methods of predicting weather by observing nature.
"I go out to the mountains with the dog and look around me and there are some things I’d be looking out for," he said.
"I like to keep the old traditions alive.
"The older generation would always use these methods, they relied on them."
Gallagher, who has written books on reading weather signs and the old traditional ways, has been predicting the weather for over 25 years.
According to RSVP Live, he has been “eerily accurate” with past weather predictions, including the big freeze of 2010 and the heatwave of 2018.
The former postman worries that this winter will be a lonely one for many people.
"I'd love to see some sort of community initiative where we organize for elderly people or people living on their own to be given a dog to keep them company," he said.
"Dogs are great company and they are great protection too!"
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