Happy St. Patrick's Day: Irish Weather Words

Happy St. Patrick's Day, or indeed Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit! Let’s celebrate Ireland’s national day with some weather terms.

Ireland’s weather is mixed at the best of times, but believe it or not, the sun does shine on the emerald isle. To describe a glorious day, in Ireland you can say “Lá brea brothallach a bhí ann.”

The main thing you need for a “Lá brea brothallach” is “an ghrian” or, the sun. If, as is more likely, the sky is a little more overcast, those grey or white clouds are “scamaill.”

In Ireland, you’re never too far from the rain, so it’s important to know that “báisteach” means you’re likely to get wet.

It’s not as likely as in other parts of the world due to the breezes from the Atlantic, but if you’re expecting fog, the word is “ceo."

When winter comes around, you may see some “sneachta” which is snow, “flichsneachta” meaning hail, and maybe some “tintreach agus toirneach” which is the Irish gaelic for thunder and lightning.

This year's day will be marked with a fair amount of cloud to start, and patchy rain further south. As the day goes on the set-up will develop more to sunshine and showers, some of which could be locally sharp and thundery, especially in the west!

Beneath the sunshine it'll feel pleasant though, with temperatures reaching 12C - 13C widely across the board. Stay informed of the conditions whatever the weather, by keeping an eye on the WeatherRadar.