Bitterly cold weekend ahead with more snow on the way!

Most of us woke up to a blanket of the white stuff across the midlands this morning and the outlook for the weekend is for more snow with themperatures dropping away to as low as -7 in places.

Snow showers will continue on and off for the remainder of Friday with a severe frost setting in tonight, falling to between -4 to -6 in some sheltered areas.

Cathal Nolan of Midlands Weather Channel says driving conditions will be trecherous tonight and early tomorrow morning and is urging anyone who has to travel to take care.

"Saturday will see good sunny spells in all areas but temperatures will remain below freezing in many places. Temperatures will drop even lower early on Saturday night before the next weather event begins to make its presence felt.

"It looks increasingly likely that a heavy fall of snow will affect some areas of the midlands during the early hours of Sunday morning and will persist for much of the day," he says.

"At present it looks like many areas of the midlands, especially north Offaly, Westmeath and Longford will see some heavy falls of snow during the early hours of Sunday and may last right throughout the day.

"The areas that do see the heaviest falls of snow may see anything up to 15cm of snow, with upwards of 20cm possible over areas such as the Slieve Blooms and the larger hills of Westmeath and Longford."

Temperatures are also set to fall to -6 to -7 on Saturday night making it bitterly cold.

"This is certainly a developing situation and one which requires close attention over the coming days."

The cold temperatures are due to persist throughout the coming week.