A weather forecaster demonstrated how the country will be the middle man between two competing weather systems, dubbing it a “complex” situation
14:41, 16 Jan 2026Updated 14:41, 16 Jan 2026
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND – JANUARY 3: The sun rises over Divis mountain on January 3, 2026 in Belfast, United Kingdom. The Met Office is warning that snow showers will affect many parts of Northern Ireland over the weekend, bringing some disruption to travel. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)(Image: )
The weather en route to Ireland for the end of January has been the topic of much debate over the last few days, with different outcomes possible.
Forecasters agree on one thing – it is too early to know for sure. However, weather models are predicting two distinct options, ranging from mild, wet conditions to snowy, freezing conditions that have been likened to a repeat of 2018’s infamous Beast from the East snow storm.
Weather expert Cathal Nolan of Ireland’s Weather Channel forecast that Ireland will be caught in a “battleground” in between the two conditions – but it is likely that neither of the potentially impending weather systems will have too intense an impact. He guesses that if people want to know whether they will need sandbags or snow shovels, sand bags are more likely to win out.
“Well the question that we have to ask ourselves – is it snow shovels or is it sandbags that we’re looking for as we get towards the end of January into February?” he said in his latest forecast. “Really we can’t answer that question just yet. Frustratingly as that sounds we are faced with a very tricky forecasting situation at the moment,” he said candidly.
“There is essentially no forecasters that will be able to give you an honest confident forecast in terms of what we can expect to see for the final week of January and indeed into the start of February,” he said. He demonstrated how the country will be the middle man between two competing weather systems, dubbing it a “complex” situation.
He said: “We have areas of high pressure situated here in the Azores and we’re going to have areas high pressure situated here towards Scandinavia. We are going to be caught in the middle between competing air masses. We’ve an eastern air mass trying to push west we have a westerly, milder air mass trying to push to the east and we’re caught in that boundary in the middle.
“What we can say for the next few days is that we’re going to see mostly settled conditions. We have an area of low pressure here, it is filling, it’s weakening, it will situate itself right across the country, showers generated in coastal areas but from much of inland areas, dry, bright conditions by day, cooler conditions overnight with a risk of frost and ice on the roads, so just be careful of that.
“As we get in towards Monday, that’s when things become complicated. We see these various areas of low pressure trying to push in from the west. We see this area of high pressure trying to build from the east and we’re caught in no man’s land in the middle.” He added that weather predictions indicate a “battleground scenario” though the Atlantic pressure may get the advantage, leading to milder conditions.
“At the moment we genuinely don’t know which one of those weather systems is going to win out. Is it going to be the milder air from the Atlantic? Traditionally, that has a habit of winning out in our particular part of the world. It is very difficult to get easterly winds in place across Ireland and the UK.
“Up to the start of next week. We’ve a great idea as to what’s going to happen. At that point it looks as though we’re going to be in meteorological no man’s land… snow shovels for some? Perhaps sandbags for most.”
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