The West of Ireland - Irish Stream and Mountains
The winter in Ireland is generally mild, the weather systems coming in off the Atlantic usually bring changeable, warm conditions. On occasions and in recent years there have been prolonged cold spells with snow turning to ice and lasting for weeks at a time and roads looking like in this picture.
But usually snow will only last for a few days at most outside of the mountains. Here in the west of Ireland, Co. Mayo in this case, there were conditions bringing in 160km/h winds and driven rain yet inland in Co. Mayo's mountains it was relatively calm and precipitation was falling as snow.
The rain was still falling usually on a cycle of five minutes on and two minutes off, but in between the showers I managed to get close to the stream, swollen with water from the recent heavy rainfall and melting snow. Further down in the valley fields were flooded with lakes full and slow moving rivers.
This is a place that I enjoy photographing, spending time with camera and tripod waiting for the rain to end, composing and exposing then seeking shelter again.
It is a scene that looks like a winter's day in the west of Ireland - beautiful, majestic and empty. Is there anywhere you would prefer to be?
