MOTORISTS HAVE BEEN ADVISED to take extra care in travelling this morning – and not to take any unnecessary journeys – after fresh snowfall and freezing fog in various parts of the country.

Temperatures in some parts of the country fell to -9.4 degrees overnight – with the lowest temperature being recorded just outside Arklow. Further forecasts from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts show that temperatures for the next ten days – the maximum amount it can forecast for – suggest that the cold snap will continue for at least that long.

Fresh snow fell in counties Cork, Meath and Monaghan overnight, while heavy fog has hit the midlands – meaning treacherous road conditions as new layers of snow and ice form over compacted snow.

The National Roads Authority has said drivers should try to travel on the country’s national roads and motorways, as these would be the first to be treated with supplies of salt.

Roads in Wicklow – around the Sally Gap and Wicklow Gap – are impassable, the Irish Times reports, while large sections of the main Dublin-Belfast M1 road remain icy.

Bus services in West Cork have been cancelled after the fresh snowfall and overnight weather conditions left roads in the county too dangerous to travel on. Services to the rest of the country remain sporadic, with some cancellations in Munster, while other routes from Dublin to the north are being diverted.

Most Dublin Bus services are operating as normal, with minor diversions on some routes.

Passenger ferry services and air travel remains largely unaffected, though a small number of flights to Knock Airport were cancelled.

Schools have been given discretion to open if they see it; many rural schools, however, have closed given the difficulty of travelling for many of their rural-living pupils.

The Department of Transport website is accumulating details of travel disruptions as they occur.