A top meteorologist has rubbished claims by retired Donegal postman Michael Gallagher, that Ireland has no chance of a white Christmas this year.
Gallagher, who has a track record of accurately predicting festive weather patterns, said that he believed that for the first time in years there was absolutely zero chance of us seeing the white stuff on the 25th of December.
But, meteorologist James Madden from long-range forecasters Exacta Weather, has rubbished the former postman’s claims, telling The Mirror:
“It’s too early to call with precise accuracy due to the standard deviations that we need to allow for with the weather.
"But Ireland is likely to see a number of potentially significant or severe wintry blasts in December and one of those wintry blasts could actually coincide with the festive period to deliver an official white Christmas to certain parts of Ireland.
“Northern and eastern parts of the country would be the most likely to have a white Christmas.”
Earlier this month predictions were made that Ireland could be facing the worst winter in years.
A 300-strong flock of Bewick swans migrate 2,500 miles from Arctic Russia to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire each year and their arrival is used as a sign to say that winter has arrived.
It is the earliest arrival of the birds since 1963 and their presence has led many to believe that western Europe is in store for a long, harsh winter, read the full story here.
Meanwhile, the long term outlook for winter to come has also been examined as a blob of "abnormally cold" water in the North Atlantic is expected to have an impact on weather conditions over the coming years, according to forecasters.
The extra cold water of the North Atlantic is due, forecasters believe, to melting ice in Greenland which is seeping into the Atlantic, read the full story here.
But for now, a period of mild weather has been predicted for the first half of next month, before the cold weather sets in, in late November.
“Many parts of Ireland are likely to start November on a quite mild note, with some periods of quite changeable and unsettled weather as low pressure stays nearby,” said James Madden.
“The cooler and more wintry conditions will then become the more prominent feature throughout the remainder of the November period, before a mixed theme of some additional milder interludes at times and a number of notable wintry blasts during the December period.”