Local authorities have been told by the National Roads Authority they must "prudently manage" their salt supplies over the coming days as further bad weather and snow is set to strike the country from the weekend.
Some 26,000 tonnes of salt are due to arrive in Ireland from next week for gritting roads, but it is likely only national primary roads and those that are important for access to facilities such as hospitals and ports will be prioritised in coming days.
The National Roads Authority (NRA) revealed today some 75,000 tonnes of salt have already been used this winter compared to the average of 60,000 tonnes.
In recent nights, local authorities have cut their nightly use of salt to 1,000 tonnes, from 2,500-3,000 tonnes on average during the recent snowy weather.
At a severe weather and transport briefing in Dublin today, Michael Egan of the NRA said there were currently sufficient supplies to ensure main roads continue to be treated. A total of 15,000 tonnes of salt is in storage compared to 5,000 tonnes at this time last year.
Mr Egan said a number of salt shipments are currently at sea. They had been anticipated before this weekend, but bad weather in the Mediterranean resulted in delays to the loading of ships there.
Joan Blackburn of Met Éireann said bitterly cold weather was forecast from tomorrow onward and that strong northerly winds would begin to return back down over Ireland.
The situation was “quite complex” over the weekend, with a snow centre over or very close to Ireland, coming from the Arctic. This would dominate our weather over the weekend and early next week.
Different parts of the country are likely to get snow at different times over the next four or five days, but most areas were likely to see some, Ms Blackburn said.
She said the signals were for less cold weather around Christmas or thereafter, but this was at the outside of the limits of current forecast capability, she said.
Met Éireann said snow would mainly affect Ulster, west Connacht and southwest Munster during tomorrow afternoon into Friday. There will be between 3 and 10cm of snow here, with more over higher ground.
Snow showers will become more widespread across the country later on Friday, with further accumulations. Scattered wintry showers to follow over the weekend, with yet more snow in places.
Afternoon temperatures will be from minus 2 to plus 3 degrees. Temperatures at night will be as low as minus 5 to minus 10 degrees, with widespread frost, ice and freezing fog. It will also be extremely cold and wintry into next week.
Representatives of Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Bus said they hoped to maintain services during the bad weather to come.
Iarnrod Éireann said it intended to keep its services fully operational. Snow or extreme cold both presented challenges, but it was the company’s intention to repeat the successful operation of the recent bad spell, said spokesman Barry Kenny.
Bus Éireann asked customers to monitor local and national media and to check on the company’s website for any disruptions.
Dublin Bus said it would make “every effort possible” to keep services operating but that would be contingent on the roads and the weather conditions.
A number of local authorities are continuing to restrict water supplies at night time, and householders have been urged not to leave taps running.
City engineer Michael Philips of Dublin City Council said consideration was being given to delaying the restriction of water supplies during the night to 10pm rather than the current time of 7pm, due to difficulties being experienced by hotels and restaurants.
Mr Philips urged people not to travel unless they had to during the bad weather and to use public transport where possible.
He asked people to clear footpaths outside their houses while the snow was still soft, because once it went hard and began to ice over it would become dangerous. He also urged people to look after older neighbours.
Westmeath County Council said the outlet from the Annagh reservoir has been closed over recent nights to conserve water and to allow storage levels to be replenished. Interruptions will continue from midnight tonight until 9am tomorrow and from midnight tomorrow until 9am on Friday.
Areas served by the Coosan Reservoir to the north of Athlone and the Batteries reservoir on the western side of the town will not be affected.