First week of 2024 to bring wet and unsettled weather to NI

Northern Ireland is to be hit by heavy rain. Stock photo: AP Photo/Michael Probst

Niamh Campbell

Today at 19:29

New Year’s Day has remained dull and grey, in typical ‘January blues’ style, and the rest of the week is set to look much the same.

The Met Office has predicted that there will be bright spells and showers in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, while there will be plenty of cloud and rain on Monday evening.

There will be some quite heavy downpours throughout the region, especially over South Down tonight.

It will become mostly dry by midnight with some clear spells developing overnight and fresh winds easing.

The minimum temperature on New Year’s night is expected to be 4?C.

The national weather forecaster added that it will remain ‘generally unsettled’ this week right up until Friday, with showers at times.

However, there will be some drier weather too, particularly on Thursday.

NI won’t be hit as bad with rain as other parts of the UK, as the Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for rain and wind for large parts of England and Wales on Tuesday.

The heaviest rain is “more likely” across parts of Wales, the Midlands towards eastern England and Yorkshire, while gusts could reach 60mph in coastal areas or 40 to 50mph elsewhere, the forecaster said.