Arctic weather disrupts travel plans for week
Driving conditions remain hazardous across the country and Met Éireann has warned that the exceptionally cold weather will continue throughout the week.
Forecaster Klara Finkele said a chilling northeasterly wind would bring in heavy snow showers into the northern part of the country and along the east coast during the early part of the week.
Ms Finkele said that southern parts of Cork and Kerry could also experience snow showers.
AA Roadwatch has urged motorists not to make any unnecessary journeys during the cold snap, pointing out that several roads remained treacherous because of severe frost.
Met Éireann, who warned that temperatures could fall as low as -10ºC this week, expects that the cold weather will last until Friday at least.
There were delays and disruptions to public bus services over the weekend because of the weather.
Some flights in and out of Dublin Airport were delayed, but train services remained largely unaffected by the weather. While a full bus service was operating in Dublin, a small number of routes were curtailed.
Bus Éireann said it had to curtail some services, particularly in the south-east, because of a heavy snowfall on Saturday night.
Dublin City Council’s director of traffic Michael Phillips is encouraging people in ice-bound housing areas to leave their car at home and use public transport where it is available.
Dublin City Council will deploy over a thousand staff to clear away snow and ice from roads and pathways today .
The National Roads Authority said it has ample salt supplies to deal with a prolonged cold snap.
Local authorities have been treating more than 16,000 kilometres of roadway.
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey said the country’s transport agencies would ensure commuters face the least disruption possible during the week.
“Local authorities are already treating roads during this cold period and they are prioritising critical access routes to the main national road network,” he pointed out.
Labour’s Joe Costello said the present intense and prolonged cold spell would severely test the Government’s preparedness for a bad winter.
“After last year’s debacle when no minister was in charge and local authorities were desperately short of salt and sand, there was ample time to ensure that similar mistakes would not be made this winter,” he said.
Mr Costello also warned that elderly and disabled people were particularly at risk during prolonged spells of cold weather.
“Neighbours should look in on them and offer to carry out shopping and ensure that there are no burst pipes or dangers of hypothermia,” he urged.
* Severe weather information is available on the Department of Transport’s website at www.transport.ie.
THE cold snap will continue for the rest of the week and probably into next weekend.
The bitterly cold conditions will continue today, with a mixture of sunny spells and wintry showers. Maximum temperatures of 2C to 4C and moderate north-easterly winds.
It will continue to be extremely cold tomorrow, and on Wednesday and Thursday, with daytime temperatures of 2C to 4C and not rising above freezing in some sheltered inland areas on Thursday.
There will be some sunny or clear spells, but further wintry showers of hail, sleet and snow also, most likely in north Connacht, Ulster and in east Leinster, though some showers are possible in other areas as well.
It will be breezy tomorrow and on Wednesday with northeasterly winds slackening by Thursday.
Nights will be bitterly cold and frosty, with air temperatures dropping down to between zero and -5C or -6C.
On Thursday temperatures are expected to plummet to as low as -10C in places and, as winds fall, there is the added danger of freezing fog.
THE temperature in Dublin hit a record low for the month of November of -9.1°C at the weekend.
According to Met Éireann, the previous record low for the month of November at -6.7°C occurred in 1964.
The temperature of -9.1°C was measured at Baldonnel Aerodrome on Saturday night.
The temperature fell to -12.4°C at Baldonnel last January when Ireland experienced the coldest start to the New Year in 40 years.
The lowest air temperature ever recorded in Ireland was minus -19.1°C at Markree Castle on January 16, 1881.
The lowest observed 20th century air temperature was -18.8°C recorded at Lullymore, Co Kildare on January 1979.
Maximum day time temperatures of between 2 to 4°C are expected this week, with air temperatures dropping to between 0 and -6°C.
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