Weekend offers chance of slight thaw

MET Éireann is predicting the weekend will see the start of an albeit slight increase in temperatures and a slow thawing of the blanket of snow which has covered much of the country for the last week.

On Saturday and Sunday, the days will be dry and bright and temperatures could reach as high as 6C in some parts. That will lead to partial thaws for a few hours each day.

However, the nights will continue to be bitterly cold with temperatures continuing to dip as low as -8C.

Next week, the pattern will be similar to the weekend with daytime temperatures in the low positives in the early days and rising even higher towards the following weekend.

Yesterday, another bitterly cold day for much of the country, it emerged that an elderly man found dead outside his home in Claremorris, Co Mayo, may have perished because of the arctic conditions.

Tom Connolly, a pensioner in his seventies, was discovered by a relative outside the front door of his house where he lived alone at Luí Na Gréine, Claremorris, around 10.30am.

It is understood the body had been in the open since about 9pm on the previous night when he returned home from a social event.

Claremorris superintendent Padraig O’Toole said gardaí were keeping an open mind on the cause of death until the outcome of a postmortem though he added it was not believed there was a suspicious cause.

He appealed to the public who had elderly neighbours, particularly those living alone, to check on them during the cold spell.

Gardaí are appealing to motorists to give priority to road gritting equipment and public transport, not to make unnecessary journeys and to use that public transport where possible.

“Current indications are that a thaw will take place in the middle of next week,” a garda spokesman said. “This may create further difficult driving conditions. We are asking road users to be conscience of this when making journeys.”

Yesterday Dublin Airport was forced to stop all flights for a time while it cleared a blanket of snow from the runway. The Luas was also forced to end services.

Bus and rail services operated throughout the day although there were delays on a number of routes.

In Cork, County Mayor Jim Daly welcomed a decision by the county council to make grit and salt available to community groups for spreading throughout county roads as of today.