Irish Examiner View: Power grid gets first winter test

High demand coupled with several low-wind days which will prevent renewable power topping up our supply

Unseasonably warm weather in October and last month, has helped persuade households and businesses to keep the thermostat turned down. File Picture

There is an old, and distinctly off-colour joke about watching out for yellow snow, but that does not distract from the importance of the colour-coded warning system deployed by Met Éireann in spells of cold weather. 

With the alerts being forecast to alternate between yellow (‘be aware’) and orange (‘be prepared’) in the next few days, and the cancellation and delays of about 200 flights in and out of Dublin over the weekend, this 50th week of the year will also see the first major test of the reliability of our energy supplies as demand increases upon entering the peak midwinter months.