County braced for blizzards
THE icy grip of Siberian winds are expected to reach as far as Sligo this week bringing arctic temperatures, treacherous road conditions and snow blizzards.
Met Eireann is expected to upgrade a warning in place to a Status Orange warning, with a Status Red alert expected later in the week for Storm Emma.
Temperatures are expected to drop to as low as -10C at night but will feel as cold as -15C due to significant chill from the so-called ‘Beast from the East’.
The cold snap will hit Sligo from early this evening (Tuesday). Day time temperatures will struggling to get above 1 to 3 degrees and significant snow fall is possible from Thursday evening.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland and local authorities are already planning to dramatically increase their road salting operations.
Sligo County Council has stockpiled 2,400 tonnes of salt to grit over 440km of county roads this week.
“Staff will be fully engaged throughout this spell in gritting the road network in accordance with our Winter Maintenance Plan,” a spokesperson told The Sligo Champion.
“However road conditions over the coming days are likely to be very dangerous and all motorists must slow down and exercise caution particularly on local roads which will not be treated,” they added.
The Government’s National Emergency Co-ordination Group met yesterday to discuss plans for the expected weather.
Gardaí and the Road Safety Authority are warning motorists to expect challenging driving conditions and, if necessary to postpone non-essential journeys.
Irish Water is also mobilising crews as frozen pipes become in issue.
According to the CouCouncil’s Winter Maintenance Plan, Sligo City Centre footpaths will not be considered for treatment except in severe or prolonged winter weather and then only when resources are available.
Plant and additional hired mechanical spreaders/drivers will also be used for getting grit and salt onto the roads particularly on hilly local roads, roads near schools and roads where traffic is encountering problems due to the weather.
Tonight is expected to be very cold and frosty with temperatures falling to between -2 and -5 degrees. A good deal of dry weather in the North West, with just a few snow showers.
Wednesday will be extremely cold, with some further falls of snow in the East. Top tempera- tures only -1 to +2 C.Wednesday night will bring the hardest frost with temperatures falling to between -5 and -7 degrees in strong easterly winds.
Bitterly cold on Thursday, with top temperatures just -1 to +1 C followed by heavy disruptive snow during Thursday night. Further falls of heavy disruptive snow for a time on Friday, mainly over central and northern parts of the country.