Some views of the countryside around Blarney Castle on a beautiful day. [gallery type="rectangular" link="file" ids="17785,17783,17784,17782,17781,17780"]

Clouds gather over Owenahincha Beach, Co Cork.

Snow fell last night in Ireland and everything came to a halt as people all over the country gasped in wonder at the strange white stuff on the ground. Thankfully it looks like it won’t last. We’re not equipped to deal with this sort of weather at all! Blarney Castle opened later than usual but…

The sun momentarily shone through the clouds over the Conor Pass, Kerry.

Just a part of a fence at the top of the Conor Pass in Kerry some five years ago.

Cork City in fog, 2002. Shot with an ancient Fuji FinePix 2800, a 2MP camera and my second digital camera.

The Bay Bridge in San Francisco as it was in 2007. I can’t believe that was seven years ago. Wow.

The city of Reykjavík as seen from the bell tower of the cathedral there.

Ireland has been lashed with some severe winds and storms over the last 2 weeks. There’s destruction in many locations around the coast and inland too but sometimes the storm abates and the sun shines between the clouds.

Last night was the coldest yet this winter. It’s been amazingly mild so far but this morning cars were encased in a thick frost, the lock on my car was frozen solid and the thermometer in my car said -2C. Lovely sunrise however. Brrrrr.