Irish holidaymakers travelling to Spain in the coming days are being warned about turbulent weather in some parts.
Several weather warnings have been issued by the Spanish national forecaster, AEMET, for snow storms, gale force winds, freezing temperatures and dangerous waves.
Some of the areas included in the alerts include holiday hotspots popular with Irish tourists like Mallorca, Barcelona and Ibiza.
READ MORE: Ireland travel rules and Covid entry requirements for Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and America
The island of Mallorca is under a Status Yellow ‘coastal’ alert with authorities warning of storm force 7 winds and waves of up to 4 metres. A separate Status Yellow ‘wind’ warning has also been issued for gusts of up to 70km/h. Both alerts are in place until Saturday.
Status Yellow ‘Coastal’ and ‘wind’ warnings have also been issued for Barcelona, with the weather forecaster warning of storm force 7 winds and gusts of up to 80km/h until Saturday evening.
A Status Yellow ‘coastal’ warning is also in place for Ibiza until noon on Saturday, with authorities saying to expect storm force 7 winds and waves of up to 3 metres.
Meanwhile, ‘snow storm’ and ‘minimum temperature’ warnings are in place for much of the north east of Spain, with AEMET saying up to 20cm of snow could fall within 24 hours, while temperatures could plummet as low as -6C.
It comes as Ireland is in for a chilly weekend with temperatures struggling to hit double figures.
Met Eireann says the sudden change in weather is due to a switch in airmass bringing cold air down from Scandinavia.
Its latest forecast for Saturday reads: “Tomorrow will bring a mix of showers and sunny spells. Showers will be most frequent during the morning and early afternoon, with drier and sunnier weather spreading from the north later in the day.
“Highest temperatures of 7C to 11C in a light to moderate northerly breeze.
“A largely dry night with light isolated showers possible. Partly cloudy with good clear spells. Lowest temperatures of -1C to 3C in light northwest winds.”
It will be more of the same on Sunday.
The national forecaster said: “There will be some brightness early in the day, turning cloudy or overcast ahead of rain which will move in from the northwest through the afternoon. The rain may be heavy in the northwest. Southern counties will likely stay dry until later in the evening.
“Highest temperatures of 9C to 11C. Light northwest winds will back southwest and freshen with the rain.
“A cloudy night with outbreaks of rain and drizzle, rain heaviest and most persistent in northern and northwestern counties. Not as cold as recent nights, with lowest temperatures of 6C to 8C. Moderate westerly winds.”
Looking ahead to next week, it said temperatures are due to return to average after the weekend with some rain or drizzle expected in the early days of the week.
READ MORE: Covid emergency powers stop today - What it means for Irish people from face masks to travel
READ MORE: Met Eireann confirm huge change as unusual sunshine arrives before major U turn and 'cold blast'
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter.
