Cork weather: Council lists routes where there are particularly dangerous conditions

A snow covered Broad Street in Charleville, Co Cork. Pictures: Dan Linehan

The public is being urged to avoid any unnecessary journeys amid dangerous road conditions across Cork county. 

Two status orange weather warnings have been issued for most of the country as Met Éireann said temperatures could drop as low as -8C on Tuesday evening. 

The warning for Cork and Munster will come into place at 8pm and remain in place until 10am on Wednesday. The second warning will then come into place from 6pm on Wednesday evening and stay in place until 11am on Thursday morning. 

Salters and ploughs were operating through the night following snowfall and ice across Cork, however, Cork County Council said there had been reports of hazardous conditions on roads that were recently treated. 

Snow at Corbett Court, Charleville, Co Cork. 

One incident caused the R585 at Cousane to be closed after an Artic lorry became stuck. The road has since reopened. 

National primary and secondary routes in Cork were "passable with extreme care" on Tuesday morning, a spokesperson said. 

"However, don't assume a road is safe even [if it] has been recently treated," the spokesperson added. 

However, the majority of priority 3 routes remain untreated and are in very poor condition. 

Cork County Council said there were particularly dangerous conditions on the following routes:

• There are reports of ice on the N71 between Ballydehob and Bantry on elevated sections of road;
• The R576 from Newmarket to Rockchapel and Newmarket to Boherbue; 
• The R579 from Banteer to Nadd remains closed, however, crews are working to reopen this route; 
• The R576 from Newmarket to Rockchapel; 
• The R619 from Bweeng to Donoughmore; 
• The R515 Charleville to Milford via Newtownshandrum; 
• The R578 Newtownshandrum to Newmarket via Dromina, Bog Cross and Freemount; 
• The R578 Newmarket to Ballydesmond, Newmarket to Boherbue; 
• The R577 between Ballydesmond and Boherbue.

A Garda car stuck in the snow in Charleville, Co Cork. 

Meanwhile, Wednesday is set to be a "bitterly cold morning" in Munster, with widespread frost and ice throughout the day. However, it should remain dry with sunny spells with highs of -1C to 3C. 

It should then become "extremely cold" on Wednesday night, with dry and clear weather overnight. Lows of -8C to -2C are expected with freezing fog patches. 

Thursday then will see more frost and ice in the morning, with some freezing fog lingering through the day despite the sunshine. 

There will be some scattered wintry showers in the mornings with highs of -2C to 4C. 

Thursday night then will start dry before rain follows over the southwestern half of the country, with falls of sleet and snow at first before quickly transitioning to snow. Lows of -7C to -2C are expected.

WEATHER CENTRE

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