Parts of the country will see a mix of rain, sleet, snow and strong wind throughout today, forecasters say.
However, the snow is expected to start 'fizzling out' as it reaches eastern and northern counties tonight.
Status yellow weather warning for snow, ice and wind is now in place for Munster, Leinster and Connacht.
The alerts will last for 24 hours, with up to 5 centimetres of snow falling in some areas of the country.
The animation below runs from now until 06:00 on Saturday.
Blue/yellow/wine colours = rain
White/green = snow
The heaviest snow will be over high ground in Munster & south Leinster. #sneachta pic.twitter.com/ayesZHZAon— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) February 11, 2021
Met Éireann's Evelyn Cusack told Newstalk Breakfast that a band of rain is pushing in from the Atlantic, and will turn to snow as it meets colder air.
She explained: “It’s just getting into the south-west at the moment, into Kerry. At our station on Valentia Island, the temperature is 3 degrees - it’s just rain there. So it’s turning to snow then as it begins to move in over the mountains.
“It’s not going to reach Dublin in daylight hours… north-east of a line from Dublin to Sligo is going to stay dry. For the rest of the country, a mix of rain, sleet and snow - and very windy as well.
“Tonight, the snow’s likely to reach the east and the north - not too much though, as it will be fizzling out at that stage.”
Wet and windy conditions, meanwhile, will lead to a risk of flooding for southern coastal counties on Friday and Saturday.
Some northern and eastern counties are also likely to see further falls of sleet and snow during the early parts of the weekend.
Ms Cuscack said milder air will then make its way across the country from Sunday, with ‘wet, windy and cool’ weather next week.
She added the country will hopefully see the 'back of the snow' from Saturday evening.
