March 2022 has seen many changes in Ireland, there are now no public health measures in place in order to mitigate against COVID-19.

This has allowed people to attend large sporting events, music concerts and to travel through Ireland with no forms to fill in - the useless Passenger Locator Form is gone, unfortunately the mask-mandate has gone too meaning that it is up to the individual as to wear a mask or not in indoor settings.

And to complicate things further PCR tests are now virtually impossible to get unless you pay a private provider meaning that positive case numbers are largely underreported. Combining the over-the-counter lateral flow or rapid antigen tests with PCR tests, reported positive tests are three times more now than at the start of the month.

Austria is about to reintroduce mask-wearing requirements as positive numbers increase rapidly there, the Scottish Government have kept their requirements in place until at least April 4th and other European countries such as Italy (until May1st) still require FFP2 masks in public indoor and transport settings.

In Ireland, unfortunately, the Irish Government have decided to leave the decision to the individual, which means virtually no-one wearing a mask in public settings.

This increase in cases, of people not taking basic precautions has led to the rather embarrassing spectacle of the Taoiseach being quarantined on Saint Patrick's Day in Washington DC, indeed he will be stuck there until the end of March.

As of yet, Ireland has not seen increases in intensive care hospitalisations but those do tend to lag.

Ireland is still a safe place to visit and with plenty of open spaces in the countryside there is an easy escape from the crowds.

Join me, Panoramic Ireland, to photograph in Ireland.

After photographing a concert in Dublin this week, I headed out through the city centre to photograph some more before making my way home.

It was a cold evening and dark by the time I was along the River Liffey, in the distance I could see the Convention Centre and Samuel Beckett bridge lit up in green for Saint Patrick's Day, closer by, I could see Dublin's famous Custom House, a late-18th century Georgian building fronting the river.

Of course, I didn't have the usual tools of the landscape and long-exposure photographer, in this case a tripod. The tripod is obviously not useful for concert photography and not permitted anyhow in the pit area.

2022 sees the return of Saint Patrick's Day celebrations and festivities here in Ireland with 2020 and 2021 having seen cancellations due to COVID-19.

Usually March 17th is the holiday but for 2022 the government has created a new public holiday which this year falls on March 18th to make a double holiday.

From 2023 onwards that new holiday will fall on Saint Brigid's Day, the 1st of February, and Saint Patrick's Day will return to the traditional one day.

With the temperature warming fast and rain forecast, I took the opportunity to walk into the mountains to photograph the snowy landscape.

On the steep road up into the mountains I met a woman, man and their dog, they told me of a long-abandoned village in the mountains; we chatted for a few minutes before I was on my way again walking up that steep, narrow road covered in snow.

Ascending the steep incline to the high ridge, I was almost floored by a strong and constant westerly wind that brought clouds and clear spells minute by minute.

Snow has finally arrived, the 9th of March 2022 and a decent amount too but it is unlikely to last for long.

Ireland has been under a weather warning for wind, rain and snow over the past two days.

When this snow melts, expect flooding.

For now, the landscape is quiet and the colour of the countryside is temporarily changed from green to white.

Saint Patrick's Day is close, March 17th, and we will expect to see a lot more green in Ireland over the next few weeks.

So, to answer one of the most common questions about Irish weather - does it snow in Ireland? - well yes, it does but it's hard to say when it will happen.

Count yourself lucky to experience it unless you have to get somewhere, because the back roads can be treacherously slippy.

There is some wild weather on the way for Ireland this week, stormy winds and rain.

I am planning a visit to the west of Ireland soon and have been looking through images from previous visits.

Here I found this one from 2014 when the late evening sun, partially obscured by fast moving clouds, momentarily illuminated the rocky mountainsides above the lake.

It probably wouldn't be a bad place for a swim, but on this occasion photographing along the entire west coast of Ireland was the endeavour.

Next visit will be for photography as well, but maybe after that a little bit of time to have a picnic and a stroll or even swimming in this fine mountain valley lake.

Why not join me to photograph in Ireland's wild landscapes or in Dublin.

Dublin's Custom House, one of the city's fine Georgian buildings sits above the River Liffey as it flows through the capital of Ireland seen here with arches lit up in the colours of the flag of Ukraine.

The Custom House is very recognisable to Dubliners, it was designed by one of the finest Georgian architects who designed many of Dublin's most iconic building - James Gandon; it opened in 1791 to serve as the building in which to collect and pay taxes for good shipped through Dublin, most goods travelling via the quays - the riverside.

After my last post mentioning the lack of snow thus far in winter 2021-2022, a vista of fresh snowfall in Ireland, the green of the Irish countryside whitened for a short time.

In places, particularly the northwest of the country, enough snow fell to make travel hazardous but further south and east there was only a dusting of snow as seen here.

As of the afternoon, almost all of this snow has gone save for some at the foot of the deep hedges seen here where the sun doesn't reach, behind the orange and green gorse in the middle of the image.

There is a lengthening of daylight as we edge closer to the start of meteorological spring (you might have seen my posts about traditional spring beginning on February 1st) and despite the storms of recent weeks, the days are getting brighter.

Of course with the Irish weather being so unpredictable we still have the potential for snow up to at least the end of March.

Panoramic Ireland hasn't seen much snow this winter, unlike in previous years.

The Winter of 2021-2022 has been somewhat mild with a lack of snow, even in the mountains.

Here in February, a narrow mountain road leads on into the distance towards distant mountains through a landscape of reddish-yellow winter heather and gorse.

Winter and spring can still bring snow in 2022 but for the moment all is still colourful in the Irish landscape.

A fine afternoon sky from today in Ireland with rays of the sun . 

Sunbeams break through fast moving clouds as the sun edges past the hypotenuse of this nebulous triangle into clear blue sky for a short time.

The hills and low mountains of Ireland, illuminated in places into the distance.

After a fine scene of golden winter light yesterday, this definitely made a perfect afternoon outing with camera to mark three years since my cancer operation. Indeed it reminded me of this image from the time of my chemotherapy.