The Easter bank holiday brought a bounty of much-needed sunny spells and warmer conditions over the weekend.
However, the unseasonably pleasant weather looks set to turn, with temperatures noticeably lower already today.
The UK met office had a Status Yellow warning in place for snow and ice in counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry until 10am this morning.
Meanwhile, Met Éireann predicts these showers will extend to areas in Ulster, Connacht and north Leinster today.
Nationwide tonight, temperatures could hit lows of -3 degrees Celsius, with freezing overnight conditions set to persist for the week.
Evelyn Cusack, Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann, spoke to Newstalk Breakfast about what the weather will look like today and for the rest of the week.
"It's quite a cold day today, lots of sunshine around but some wintry showers of hail, sleet and snow through Ulster and northern parts of Leinster and Connacht," she said.
"But not enough to build a snowman.
"It's a chilly day so get out for a walk but wrap up well.
"There's a lot of sea swimmers around at the moment so be careful, there's a risk of hypothermia as it still is very cold and sea temperatures are about 7 degrees."
Ms Cusack predicts that in the forthcoming week, the mercury will remain low with next weekend looking particularly crisp.
"For the coming week overall, a little less cold through Wednesday and Thursday, but for the weekend, pretty chilly as well," she said.
She also issued special advice to gardeners not to plant flowers just yet as there is some light frost on the way.
Cold & breezy today,sunny spells ⛅️ & scattered wintry showers.🥶🌨️
Less cold through midweek.
Colder weather from Thursday night. 🥶
Fri & Sat will be cool, sunny spells & heavy showers, some wintry. 🌨️
Very cold nights over the weekend with widespread sharp frosts. pic.twitter.com/LYMqDinHzz— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) April 6, 2021
Met Éireann forecasts that it will be less cold through the middle of the week, with a return to colder weather from Thursday night.
The weather will really start to turn on Friday, with the risk of hail and thunder, and some snow is possible over high ground in Ulster.
It says that Friday and Saturday nights will be the coldest this week, with temperatures potentially reaching lows of -4 and -3 degrees, respectively.
The forecaster is also warning of very cold nights over the weekend with widespread sharp frosts.
Saturday is expected to be another relatively cold day with sunny spells and scattered heavy showers.
The showers will turn increasingly wintry, with a mix of rain, hail, and sleet with snow over high ground. There is also a risk of isolated thunderstorms.
It will be a similar day on Sunday, cool with a mix of sunshine and showers.
However, the showers will not be as frequent nor as wintry as Saturday, and there will be a good deal of dry, bright weather.
