Ireland set for cold spell

30 January 2008

The weather in Ireland is set to take on a distinctly wintry feel ahead of the weekend, Met Eireann has predicted.

Householders are likely to need their heating turned up high by Thursday night, as temperatures are set to plummet so that it feels "extremely cold" and are likely to remain that way throughout Friday and much of Saturday.

The cold will be accompanied by showers that have the potential to lead to "significant accumulations of snow" in the north of the country, along with frost and icy conditions.

Meanwhile, the cost of heating oil looks set to rise after crude oil prices continued to climb on Tuesday.

Brent crude for March delivery gained 62 cents to close at $92.00 (€62.28) a barrel and the equivalent US crude contract rose 65 cents to settle at $91.64.

Speculation suggesting the Federal Reserve is set to implement another interest rate cut in the US and that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries will reject calls to increase production gave support to prices.