No thawing of big chill in sight
The big freeze causing widespread disruption across Europe looks set to continue this week with snow expected to fall here tonight.
Roads throughout the country were hit by frost yesterday with icy routes in the midlands, east and north unable to thaw as temperatures stayed low.
The bad weather conditions forced the cancellation of Sunday’s race meeting at Naas and frost set in again last night with temperatures dipping to -3 degrees.
But it’s going to get worse and tonight will be bitterly cold with rain, sleet, and snow forecast by Met Éireann.
Flooding, snow and strong winds are in store for Tuesday and it will remain cold and windy on Wednesday.
Several other European countries have also seen severe winter weather, with heavy rain, high winds and cold conditions wreaking havoc. Heavy snow caused transport chaos in northern France, delaying flights and reducing road traffic to a crawl.
Thousands of passengers, including 20 Dublin-bound commuters, spent Saturday night in the French capital’s main airport after flights were cancelled by a combination of ice, snow and strong crosswinds that made runways too dangerous to use.
Aer Lingus said flights to and from Paris were running about three hours late on Saturday and 20 passengers had to wait until Sunday morning before returning to Dublin.
Yesterday’s Cork to Paris Aer Lingus flight was also delayed by almost three hours due to weather conditions in France. The National Centre for Traffic Information described the snowfall as “remarkable” for the Paris region, where heavy snows are unusual.
In the Alps up to 20 inches of new snowfall has increased the risk of avalanches.
Already, two male Czech mountaineers, aged 54 and 28, were killed in an avalanche in the Tatras mountain ranges in central Slovakia on Friday.
And the wintry spell of weather across England is expected to continue this week, forecasters said yesterday.
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