A STATUS YELLOW ice warning is set to come into effect for most of the country this evening, with temperatures set to fall below freezing in some places tonight.

The warning, issued by Met Éireann, impacts 22 counties across the country and will come into effect at 5pm this evening until 9am tomorrow morning. 

The counties impacted are: Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow, Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Clare, Limerick, Tipperary, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo.

⚠️Status Yellow - Ice warning for Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow, Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Clare, Limerick, Tipperary, Connacht⚠️

Valid: 17:00 Saturday 17/12/2022 to 09:00 Sunday 18/12/2022

ℹ️https://t.co/Xg3aMJlyuS pic.twitter.com/ZfHZgZiGBG

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) December 17, 2022

Met Éireann has said there will be ice lingering in places, which will lead to hazardous travelling conditions, especially on untreated roads and paths.

Gardaí earlier urged all road users to pay attention to driving conditions and to only make necessary journeys.

“Co.Mayo in particular has seen a number of incidents occur overnight and during the early hours of this morning due to poor overnight conditions,” gardaí said.

This morning, Mayo County Council warned of “treacherous” driving conditions due to a combination of freezing temperatures and rainfall overnight.

“Please avoid using roads this morning but exercise extreme caution if travel is necessary. Gritters will continue their work where safe to do so.”

Cork County Council also said that road conditions across the county were “treacherous”. 

“Fluctuating and dropping temperatures following overnight rainfall in the period between salting runs has led to the development of black ice on many roads and surfaces,” the statement read.

“Motorists are advised to exercise extreme caution.”

Met Éireann said the afternoon will be chilly with a good deal of dry and sunny weather conditions, with highest temperatures ranging between 1 to 4 degrees generally.

Icy conditions are set to will linger in places before temperatures fall below freezing in some areas early this evening.

It will remain cold tonight with frost and ice continuing in places. Scattered outbreaks of rain will spread from the southwest.

Lowest temperatures of -2 to 3 degrees before milder conditions gradually extend from the south through the night.

Tomorrow will be cloudy with scattered outbreaks of blustery rain which will be heaviest across southern and western counties, bringing possible spot flooding.

The rain may turn wintry locally early on in the north of the country.

However, it will become much milder in the afternoon, with temperatures ranging from 5 to 8 degrees over Ulster and 8 to 12 or 13 degrees further south.