Northern Ireland Weather: Temperatures to dip to -2C tonight with -3C the rest of the week as 'Fool's Spring' blossoms around us

The lead Press Officer said that ‘temperature lows for Northern Ireland are ‘-2C tonight in rural spots, 1C in towns, 0C on Thursday night in rural spots 3C in towns and -3C on Friday night in rural spots, and -3C again on Saturday night’.

He added that Northern Ireland should be spared wintry showers, unlike Southern Scotland and Northern England and locations above 400m in elevation where they are forecast.

See Met Office weather here

It comes after a period of warm weather in recent days – “Fool’s spring” refers to a period of warm weather quickly followed by a cold snap, which often occurs in March or April.

"For Northern Ireland, there may be the odd light rain shower today but it will be mostly fine and dry with plenty of sunshine,” he sai

"A similar picture tomorrow with some rain showers in the west of Northern Ireland but again plenty of sunny spells

"More widespread rain through Friday morning but this will clear south to bring brighter conditions through the afternoon.

"The weekend then looks more settled with plenty of dry conditions but more cloud,” he added.

Meanwhile, a Met Office spokesman said that today Northern Ireland had ‘a cold start with a frost in places’ before seeing ‘a dry day with plenty of sunshine in the morning’.

They added that ‘some patchy cloud will then bubble up by afternoon’ with ‘chilly winds near coasts’.

There will ne a maximum temperature 9 °C.

And tonight, according to the Met Office will be ‘a dry night with lengthy clear spells and just a few patches of cloud’.

They added that ‘winds will fall light away from coasts, allowing a frost to develop’.

And tomorrow (Thursday) will be ‘largely sunny but cold with a frosty start’.

The Met Office adds it will ‘remain dry for the rest of the day with some good bright or sunny spells’ and a maximum temperature of 9 °C.

Meanwhile the outlook for Friday to Sunday, according to the Met Office is that it will be ‘rather cloudy on Friday with patchy rain or showers’ and ‘then a mostly dry and settled weekend with sunny spells’.

There will be ‘light winds and overnight frosts’.

Our weather picture is revealed as it emerges Cheltenham saw snow on Wednesday morning, just three days after the region saw sunny weather and temperatures as high as 18C on Sunday.

According to PA, parts of the UK were hotter than Barcelona and the Costa Del Sol over the weekend.

But now concerns have been raised about disruption to the Cheltenham Festival, after snow coated the town’s racecourse overnight.

Temperatures in the area are expected to drop to below freezing by the weekend for the end of what is often called “fool’s spring”.

Oli Claydon, a spokesman for the Met Office, said: “Some showers came through with lower overnight temperatures last night, meaning it comes through as snow.

“We’re expecting to see the same sort of regime over the next few days with showers continuing in the North East and Scotland.

“There’s also a front that moves through on Friday that could bring snow over widespread areas of Scotland, and we might see some wintry showers over the highest parts of Ireland.”

Clerk of the Cheltenham course Jon Pullin told ITV Racing on Wednesday: “It was very precautionary last night, as we were forecast a slight frost.

“It did dip down briefly to a minus two temperature, so we took some precautions on the take-offs and landings, just to make sure we’d be comfortable this morning.”

Temperatures are expected to rise to 7C by the time racing begins at 1.20pm, but overnight chills are expected to continue for the remainder of the festival.

Mr Pullin added: “Thursday to Friday is looking quite cold again now, so we’ll see where we go, but it should be dry from here on in.”

Birmingham city centre also saw snow this morning, and the Met Office forecasts suggest areas of Cumbria and Yorkshire may also see light snow and hail before midday.

The forecaster expects the rest of the week to be chilly with some overnight frost and icy patches tonight.

Mr Claydon said there should be a mostly “fine and dry picture” across the UK over the weekend.