The cold weather, resulting in snowfalls which caused traffic chaos in parts of the Republic yesterday morning, is set to continue over the next couple of days.
Motorists have been advised to drive with extreme care, with Met Eireann predicting scattered showers of hail, sleet and snow during today and severe frost this evening.
Weather forecasters said that yesterday's snowfall was the first in the month of April since 1994 and one of the most significant April snow showers since 1917.
The weather station at Dublin Airport recorded over two inches of snow.
A Garda spokesman said that road conditions along the east coast and in the midlands yesterday morning had been "very severe".
The N1 and the N2 were both blocked by jack-knifed trucks for a period yesterday morning, while the N7 experienced tailbacks as far back as Naas, Co Kildare. Other problem areas were the M50, the N4 at Kinnegad, Co Westmeath, and parts of the N3 in Co Meath.
In Cork, severe traffic delays occurred after a truck overturned at Sarsfield Bridge.
Gardai and AA Roadwatch received a large number of reports of cars overturning or sliding off roads.
Rail services were also disrupted. The Maynooth-Dublin line was the worst hit, with early morning services cancelled. Train failures on the DART line also resulted in cancellations.
A Dublin Corporation spokesman said that the local authority had been taken by surprise by the snowfall yesterday morning and did not have gritters ready to cope with the slippery conditions. "We don't generally have gritters ready outside of the normal gritting season, which goes from November until early March. However, our inspectors were happy that the roads were OK within the city boundary," the spokesman said.
The corporation plans to have gritters on standby this morning.
AA Roadwatch has advised motorists to start their journeys early this morning and to drive at reduced speed and with extreme care.
Gardai warned that even cars travelling at slow speeds had been involved in severe accidents yesterday morning.
Weather forecasters say that there are "hints" that warmer weather is on the way at the beginning of next week, but it was too early to be optimistic at this stage.
