Pinpointing the long range weather can be a difficult and somewhat tricky exercise especially as the past few months have been so mild. It would stand to reason then that Christmas 2021 would therefore turn out to be mild also here in Ireland.
However the weather always comes with a caveat and while so far the 2nd half of 2021 has been mild and benign the month of December this year from all the trends and long term forecasts looks like being one of transition.
As the month of November ends and Ireland gets battered by some windy episodes some milder weather will follow suit and we will be back in the benign pattern. However it is December now and nor October or November so the Northern push is a little stronger than before.
Most of the months this year have been milder than normal and some more than others but even though December is also trending milder there are strong signs of some colder episodes also so it does not look like it will be as excessively above normal as the first 20 days of November was.
So what does all this mean for Christmas? Well pinpointing the exact dates can be difficult but currently its looking like a strong low pressure sinks South around mid month. This will have the effect of dragging in colder Easterlies from Norway and strong frosts are possible during this time and wintry showers may bring some light sleet or snow.
However around December 20th some but milder weather is due to push back from the Atlantic and this will have the effect of bringing wet and windy weather all the way to Christmas.
Temperatures will be around 11c but in or around December 26th a cold front will move down from the Northwest bringing more wintry showers for a time before milder weather returns for the New Year.
So while overall the majority or December will be mild there will certainly be 2 cold spells that will likely be short lived but could bring some snow especially to the Northern half of Ireland.