Torrential rain, sleet and snow to whip country
TWO Status Yellow weather warnings have been issued with the country set to be lashed by torrential rain, snow and winds of up to 110kmh.
The rain and wind warning will be in effect from 5pm today until 6am tomorrow.
Meanwhile a snow and ice alert, put in place yesterday, will remain in place until this morning.
Met Éireann warned wet and windy weather and thundery downpours will sweep eastwards across the country.
Gusts are expected to reach between 90kmh and 110kmh along the Atlantic, southern and eastern coastlines.
Additional accumulations of snow are likely to gather in parts of west Ulster and north Connacht.
The AA issued advice for drivers on the morning commute and school run, to: “Slow down and remember that stopping distances are 10 times longer on icy roads.”
Motorists were also instructed to take primary roads and avoid secondary roads that will not necessarily be gritted.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has informed drivers to “allow extra time for all journeys” and to “beware” of black ice.
The advice comes after a series of collisions and breakdowns across the country last night.
Conditions are also expected to be dangerous all day today across the country due to the combination of snow, wind and rain.
There has been up to 3cm of snow in some areas with higher grounds across Ulster and Connacht the worst affected.
Emergency services were called to collisions in counties Galway, Limerick, Kilkenny, Clare, Cork, Meath and Kildare yesterday.
Temperatures dropped overnight to -3C but the mercury will rise a touch today with highs of 7C expected during daylight. But again tonight it will be very cold, with temperatures dropping to -2C.
Rain is forecast across the west and north today but will mostly die out in the afternoon, replaced by wind and rain across coasts.
Heavy rain will sweep eastwards during tonight, followed by sleet or snow and winds will be strong during
the night. The poor weather brought chaos to the Allianz Football League yesterday with several games called off. Kerry’s game at Monaghan in Division 1 was suspended. Meanwhile, t-he Division 2 game between Cavan and Meath at Breffni Park, originally scheduled for Saturday night, was postponed for a second time.
Gardaí reported treacherous conditions along the N2 between Castleblaney and Monaghan town last night due to snow and ice while there was heavy snowfall on roads across Cavan.
Icy and snowy conditions also affected Clare, Kerry, Kilkenny, Louth, Tipperary, Sligo and Offaly.
The RSA’s safety advice for the roads today stated that drivers should ensure their tyres are safe and up to driving on snowy or icy roads, tyres should also be inflated if the tread depth falls below 3mm.