Night-time temperatures to stay below freezing with widespread frost and icy patches

Flurries of snow have been reported in Mallow, Midleton and Bantry in Cork, as well as a light sprinkle in Co Waterford

Bantry was covered in slight snow this morning as many areas across Cork experienced light flurries overnight. Picture: Karlis Dzjamko

Parts of Munster woke up to some light dustings of snow on Tuesday as the current cold weather snap looks set to continue.

Met Éireann says Tuesday night will be cold with widespread frost and icy patches.

Temperatures may drop as low as -3C and "possibly lower locally." It will be mainly dry with clear spells and isolated wintry showers.

It will be "very cold" on Wednesday morning with frost and ice slowly clearing. It will be a mostly dry day with sunny spells, although "a few showers are possible in the east".

It will become rather cloudy on Wednesday night with lows of -2C expected for western counties with some frost and ice.

However, it will stay a little milder in the east with lows of 1C to 3C.

Starting to snow heavy in West cork, roads are lethal.. Temp - 4. Pls stay home and warm, ask neighbours are u OK? Just saying hello changes the day, #staysafe #snowfall #Ireland pic.twitter.com/JSSx70ZwbO

— Emperor of Cork. (@DaveForgiveness) January 9, 2024

 

People are being urged to leave plenty of time for their journeys, to slow down, to stick to main routes where possible, and use fog lights only when necessary.

It comes as Cork City Council crews worked during the night to re-salt and grit routes across the city.

Meanwhile, Cork County Council asked motorists to be conscious of pedestrians and cyclists amid "treacherous conditions with black ice."

Cold weather to remain

Flurries of snow were reported in Mallow, Midleton and Bantry in Cork, as well as a light sprinkle in Co Waterford, early on Tuesday morning.

Temperatures across the country plummeted to near -5C overnight amid a Met Éireann low temperature and ice warning, which expired at 10am.

The temperature hit lows of -4.7C in Moore Park, Co Cork and Mount Dillon, Lanesborough.

A cold weather advisory remains in place for the remainder of the week with "widespread frost and icy patches, leading to hazardous travelling conditions".

It is currently snowing in Bantry #snowireland pic.twitter.com/ft0y3Ml3g8

— Karlis Dzjamko 🇺🇦 (@dzjamkokarlis) January 9, 2024

 

According to Alan O'Reilly from Carlow Weather, black ice could cause problems in the days ahead.

"Late tonight and early tomorrow morning you're really going to want to take care. There is a high risk of more ice and some frost as well.

"Black ice is very difficult because you can get spots of it that is very hard to see. Sometimes you can see a glaze on the road, but generally the temperature will give you the best idea.

"It is a good idea to check the temperature of where you are heading, and not just where you are," he advised.

Light sprinkling of snow in Cork this morning @CarlowWeather pic.twitter.com/3oqN1gIqkT

— Ails (@AilsKelleher) January 9, 2024

 

Met Éireann said the cold weather will stay with us through Thursday with "the best of any sunshine to be had in the west".

Thursday night will see patchy frost and ice again with temperatures expected to drop as low as -1C in places.

On Friday, it will become very cloudy with a few light showers, mainly about the coasts. Friday night will be cold again with lows of -3C predicted.

The weekend will be cloudy with some outbreaks of rain at times.

Sunny spells will develop on Sunday but temperatures on both nights are "likely to fall below freezing" with some patchy frost and ice.

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