Man killed in crash as weather chaos continues
The fatal accident happened at Ballyroe, three miles outside Tralee on the Artdfert road at 6.30pm when two vehicles travelling in opposite directions collided.
Three other people were injured and the roadway remained closed for a number of hours after the incident.
One of the injured is believed to be a brother of the dead man who was with him in the Honda Civic which collided with a 4x4. He is understood to have suffered serious injuries and is being treated in Kerry General Hospital, Tralee.
The deceased was from the general Tralee area, but was not named last night.
Earlier yesterday, road conditions in the area were described as treacherous, but a Kerry County Council spokesman last night said the council had salted the road about an hour prior to the accident and driving conditions were good at the time.
It is understood the vehicle in which the dead man was travelling had come off a side road just before the crash which occurred at around 6.30pm.
Last night, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) repeated warnings about the treacherous driving conditions pleading with drivers to keep safe distances between vehicles.
Meanwhile, hundreds of schools due to reopen tomorrow are likely to remain closed.
Met Éireann has warned that the longest cold snap to hit in many decades will last until the weekend at least.
Road conditions are likely to have deteriorated overnight as temperatures again dropped below zero with widespread frost.
“There will be further severe or very severe frosts at night and ice on untreated surfaces,” said a Met Éireann spokesperson.
Temperature are likely to reach -10C in some areas.
The Department of Health and HSE reminded people to be extra vigilant and to pay particular attention to the needs of elderly people, children and those with a disability or long-term illness.
Up to 5cm of snow fell on parts of Connacht and Ulster which were the worst affected areas with drifts reported in Donegal, Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon and Galway yesterday.
Some councils have claimed supplies of grit and salt are running dangerously low as many roads are being treated several times on a daily basis.
However, fresh shipments of salt are expected to be distributed over the next few days.
Meanwhile, the Department of Education has advised schools to consider access and safety when deciding if they should remain closed or not tomorrow, when 4,000 schools are scheduled to re-open. Bus Éireann said safety will be its top priority in assessing school bus routes and that services will not operate if it is felt that a road is not safe because of snow or ice.
Some more delays to Bus Éireann’s general services can be expected today.
A Bus Éireann spokesperson said many of its early services were disrupted with some cancellations on routes serving Drogheda, Laytown and Donore, as well as buses between Limerick and Tralee/Killarney and some city services in Limerick.
However, all Eurolines services were cancelled last night from Dublin, Cork and Waterford to Leeds and London.
Dublin Bus is expected to operate a full service today.
In Leinster, several main roads, including the N2 Slane-Ashbourne and N51 Slane-Navan roads, were described as treacherous, while roads in the midlands around Tullamore and Edenderry were also covered in black ice.
Ryanair cancelled a number of flights, including British services from Dublin, Cork, Knock and Derry due largely to poor weather conditions in Britain. However, Knock Airport reopened yesterday afternoon after being forced to close for two hours due to blizzard-like conditions.
Many passengers at Dublin Airport experienced delays and cancellations as a result of major snow showers across Britain.
Aer Lingus and Ryanair cancelled a small number of flights from Cork to destinations in Britain.
Bus Eireann services between Tralee and Limerick and Tralee and Cork were cancelled.
Services continued in and out of Kerry Airport, but flights were delayed.
