Christmas Eve weather: Met Éireann forecast rain and wind, with ...

There will be some brighter spells in parts of the country in the afternoon, but the rain is expected to linger around the south coast.

Staying mild, with highest temperatures of between 9 and 13 degrees.

Overnight, there will be scattered showers but also some clear spells and less wind for Santa and his reindeer, as they make their way across the country. Lowest temperatures of 5 and 10 degrees.

Christmas Day will be cloudy and breezy with drizzle in the south and scattered showers across the rest of the country.

By the evening there will be a mix of clear spells and some scattered showers, with the showers more frequent in the North. Another mild day with highest temperatures tomorrow of between 7 and 11 degrees.

Next week will be colder and unsettled with strong winds at times, Met Éireann has forecast.

Christmas night will be colder, with lowest temperatures dropping to between zero and four degrees. Most places will stay dry but the north and northwest will experience some showers.

Tuesday, St Stephen’s Day will be cool and dry with sunny spells. It will become cloudy in the evening and there will be rain across counties in Munster. Highest daytime temperatures of between 5 and 9 degrees with lowest overnight temperatures of between minus two and plus six degrees.

It will start out cloudy on Wednesday morning with rain affecting most areas. The rain is not set to stay according to Met Éireann and the evening will be dry. Temperatures of between 5 and 11 degrees is expected, staying mildest in the southeast.

It will another cool night, with lowest overnight temperatures of between 3 and 6 degrees.

There will be widespread showers and strong winds on Thursday but the weather will improve as the day goes on.

"Sunny spells and less frequent showers following for the rest of the day, with winds easing moderate to fresh westerly. Highest temperatures of 5 to 10 degrees,” Met Éireann said.

For the last days of the year, Met Éireann said it will remain largely unsettled.

Santa delivers his Christmas message for the children of Ireland