You thought last year was cold? Well, think again. The coldest winter of the decade is supposed to hit Ireland this winter, and we’re not ready!
While November has been wet and miserable, December is set to be freezing as weather forecasters have predicted that both Ireland and the UK are to be hit by what they say will be the coldest winter of the decade.
While October was unnaturally mild, and November was wet but calm for this time of year, it seems that winter is finally about to set in. Weather forecasters have made the bold prediction that this winter may be the coldest winter of the decade for Ireland and the UK.
Coldest winter of the decade?
You may have noticed that the weather has been getting chillier recently as temperatures have begun to plunge. With temperatures due to drop to zero degrees in many parts of the country this week and widespread frost is expected to set in, meteorologists have publicly stated that they predict this December’s winter will be the coldest winter since 2010, making it the coldest winter of the decade.
Upcoming cold fronts are expected to envelop Ireland and the UK in a severe cold snap towards the end of the month and into December.
The Donegal postman’s weather prediction
As well as professional meteorologist’s predictions of a cold winter, the famous weather-predicting Donegal postman, Michael Gallagher, has weighed in with his opinion and anyone dreaming of a white Christmas will be happy to hear it.
Michael has become famous over the years for his summer and winter weather predictions. He’s known for using old-fashioned techniques to predict the weather, such as observing the behaviour of nature.
When asked about his prediction for this winter, Michael said there is a “strong possibility of snow around Christmas”. It’ll be a “changeable winter” with “lots of cold weather on the way” in December.
“Nature looks after its own”
Michael went on to say that he has made this prediction by observing nature. “The foxes are coming down from the mountains and the robins are going into the houses – they are well aware that something is in the air. There is definitely a change on the way in December, it will be very interesting to see. There was lots of hay made this summer and the older people are saying it will all be used over the winter – nature looks after its own.”
Michael retired from An Post four years ago and learned about the traditional methods of predicting the weather from older generations. There seems to be some truth to the methods used by Michael as he has been eerily accurate with past predictions. He successfully predicted the big freeze of 2010 and the scorching summer of 2018.
With both amateur and professional forecasters predicting cold winters, the chances of this being the coldest winter of the decade are looking high. Will it be a white Christmas after all?
