A status orange weather warning is in place for Saturday for the counties of Galway, Kerry and Cork with Storm Bert set to cross the country.
There are likely to be intense falls of rain over a short period of time between midnight and 10am on Saturday morning leading to surface flooding and very difficult travelling conditions.
The status yellow low temperature and ice warning for the whole of Ireland remains valid until midday on Friday and will be followed by a status yellow wind and rain warning between 10pm on Friday night to midday on Saturday.
The UK Met Office has issued a yellow snow and ice warning for all six counties from 3pm on Thursday to 10am on Friday morning.
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It will be very cold overnight with temperatures falling to minus 5 in places. Wintry showers of rain, hail, sleet and snow will continue.
Temperatures fell below zero across much of Ireland overnight into Thursday with status orange weather warnings having been in place for counties Clare, Limerick, Tipperary, Galway, Cork and Waterford until midday.
Electricty grid operator Eirgrid said Ireland recorded a new peak of 5639 MW for electricity demand on Wednesday evening at 5.28pm due to the cold weather. This passed the previous peak of 5577 MW recorded on January 18th last.
Met Éireann’s deputy head of forecasting Liz Coleman said on Thursday morning that a band of rain has “shifted southwards” and snowfall was being reported in parts of Limerick and Cork.
“So not much in the way of thaw today. A lot of icy stretches and dangerous conditions on the road particularly when the sun sets,” she told RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne.
The Road Safety Authority urged advised motorists in impacted areas to “avoid unnecessary trips”.
Fallen trees, frost, ice and spot flooding were reported across the south, particularly in Cork, where there was heavy rain overnight, leaving roads “treacherous” on Thursday morning.
In Co Mayo, some rural roads were blanketed with several inches of snow this morning and there were reports of slow moving and sometimes stranded vehicles. Main routes were also affected with treacherous conditions reported on the N5 linking east Mayo to Westport.
Substantial depths of snow were reported on routes around Westport, Castlebar, Claremorris, Mulranny, Ballycroy and Bangor. The Windy Gap road between Castlebar and Bofeenaun was closed with local communities reporting particularly deep snow.
Ken Wright, a retired photographer living near the Windy Gap, said his family’s car was “buried up to the bumper”.
“We are snowed in indefinitely. There’s isn’t a hope of moving. We were supposed to go shopping today but we’ll have to make do with bread and water,” he said. “We expected some snow but didn’t think it would be this bad. But there’s nothing we can do about it. We’ll have to sit tight and enjoy it”.
The HSE said its services had been “significantly impacted” in Co Mayo, with members of the public advised not to attend Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar except in emergencies.
“Unfortunately, some elective procedures and outpatient care appointments have been postponed,” it said in a statement. “If you have an appointment in a HSE community healthcare setting in Mayo please only travel for your appointment if it is safe to do so.”
Some public transport services were impacted early on Thursday, with Bus Éireann advising commuters to use the Transport for Ireland phone app to get up to date information. Irish Rail said trains were operating on all routes as of Thursday morning, though there were some weather-related delays. Services from Westport to Athlone and Westport to Achill were among those affected. The morning train service between Westport and Dublin was delayed by 45 minutes.
More than 15,000 homes and businesses are without power as of Thursday morning, according to ESB. The vast majority of power outages were along the southwest and west, with Kerry, Clare, Galway and Mayo most affected.
Met Éireann said “wintry outbreaks of snow, sleet, rain will clear most areas by midmorning, and southern counties” by midday on Thursday.
“While sunshine will develop, a few scattered wintry showers will follow into Atlantic counties. Icy stretches will linger through the day in places. Highest temperatures of just 1 to 4 degrees in chilly northerly winds, brisk across Munster,” it said.
“[Thursday night] will be very cold with widespread frost and icy stretches. Scattered wintry showers of rain, sleet and snow will occur with clearest skies across the midlands and southeast. Lowest temperatures of -4 to +1 degrees in moderate westerly winds.”
Conditions will improve on Friday, which is to be mostly dry with spells of sunshine after a frosty and icy start. “A few well scattered wintry showers will occur early on too with a dusting of snow in places. Highest temperatures of 3 to 7 degrees in moderate southwest to west winds.”
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