MANY ROADS around Ireland’s coastal and mountainous areas remain treacherous and largely impassable this morning after another night of sub-zero temperatures around the country, with fresh snowfalls and freezing fog.
The east coast was worst hit by last night’s fresh snow with areas of counties Dublin and Wicklow seeing two to four inches of new coverage, while scattered snow showers also hit inland Leinster and in scattered areas elsewhere.
Those areas are not experiencing the same morning coldness today as they had yesterday, however, with a moderate thaw ongoing on those areas and a slightly lesser windchill factor.
The Sally Gap and Wicklow Gap remain impossible to pass, while back roads in Co Wexford near Enniscorthy and Gorey are particularly icy. In Offaly, heavy snowfall in Tullamore, Clara and Edenderry has left some rural roads impassible.
Even in areas that escaped extra snowfall, the overnight freeze left a new sheen of ice over many roads and footpath, leaving pedestrians and drivers needing to exercise maximum caution.
Readers have told TheJournal.ie that there was little or no overnight snow in Kinsale, Co Cork and in Westport, Co Mayo, though there are outstanding cold conditions and frozen roads. Snowfall across Dublin City has varied to between 3 and 5 inches, they add:
@thejournal_ie looks like about 3″ maybe a little more fell overnight here in Ranelagh/Rathmines.
(via @JoannaSchaff)
@thejournal_ie It did snow heavily in south central last night, about 10 – 12cm. o they were right about the snow….
(via @malbekh)
There is also fresh heavy snowfall in Waterford city this morning, according to reader @digger76.
The main routes from the south-east into Dublin, including the N11 and the Merrion and Rock Roads, are also very slippy and motorists should take care.
Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann advise that most of their routes remain up and running; Dublin Bus’s main curtailments are diversions or early terminations of routes travelling into Wicklow, while Bus Éireann has been forced to divert a number of services in the north-east.
Rail services are all largely operational also, with Iarnród Éireann reporting full operations with the exception of the M3 parkway. Other services, however, are up to 50 minutes delayed.
Ferry services have been hit, however, with all four Dublin Swift sailings from Dublin to Holyhead cancelled. Passengers with bookings are advised to contact Irish Ferries, who will accommodate passengers on the Ulysses car ferry.
Met Éireann has warned that the cold snap is likely to continue into the coming day, with overnight temperatures still set to hit -10′C. Some areas, it says, can expect up to 10 inches of snow between last night and tonight.
A full map of affected road areas can be found at the website of the AA. The Department of Transport is also collating details of transport interruptions.
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