Met Éireann has issued two weather warnings for snow, ice and wind.
A status orange snow and ice weather warning has been issued for Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal and is in effect from 6pm on Wednesday until noon on Thursday.
“At present, the main risk of appreciable accumulations is limited to Ulster,” the alert states.
Finally some snow ❄️ #sneachta pic.twitter.com/HSe56P5F8a
— Paddy Logue (@paddylogue) January 16, 2018
Snow stops racing @Fairyhouse today. 1 inch of snow & poor forecast. pic.twitter.com/H5HaqvmEBS
— FairyhouseRacecourse (@Fairyhouse) January 17, 2018
#stormFionn arriving into Ballinskelligs on the Iveragh Peninsula,Co.Kerry earlier, blasting the #Skelligs along @wildatlanticway be @CorkKerryWinter @KerryYourNatEsc @MetEireann pic.twitter.com/7ZQZpdmMPT
— Valerie O'Sullivan (@valphoto) January 16, 2018
#stormfionn #sneachta i mBaile Átha Cliath #rtenews (video by passenger in case u wondering) pic.twitter.com/mR4uJWaA7k
— Joe Mag Raollaigh (@joemagraollaigh) January 16, 2018
A yellow wind warning is in place for Munster, Connacht and Leinster from 5pm on Wednesday until 3am on Thursday. Winds of 50km/h to 65km/h with gusts of up to 110km/h are expected to hit many counties.
Met Éireann forecaster Siobhan Ryan said “the yellow wind warning is on the higher end of the scale and teetering into the orange zone, so it will be very windy for a lot of the country, west to south west winds with mean speeds of 50 to 60km/h and gusts of up to 110km/h”.
While the wind warning will expire on Thursday morning she said we will nonetheless “be into that all too familiar polar maritime air mass”, so another cold day is on the way for Thursday and again on Friday.
“There is the ongoing risk of hail and thunder, though the showers will be falling mainly as rain, the wintry element confined primarily to higher ground.”
Thursday will be a cold and breezy day with sunny spells. There will be scattered wintry showers with a continued risk of hail and thunder, especially in the west and north.
Afternoon temperatures will range between two and five degrees with slightly warmer conditions along the south coast. Temperatures will fall between minus one and three degrees on Thursday night, leading to frost, especially in the north and east.
The snow and ice brought treacherous and hazardous conditions on the roads in many parts on Wednesday.
Thousands of homes were without power on Wednesday morning after Storm Fionn. Northern Ireland saw some of the heaviest snow with schools shutting for the day.
A number of ferry sailing were delayed or cancelled. The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has asked road users to be extra cautious and look for fallen debris and cross winds.
Dublin City Council and Alone, a charity supporting the elderly, called on people to check in with older neighbours during the bad weather.
The charity said people should help ensure potentially vulnerable neighbours have access to fuel, food and water during the period of poor weather.
Met Éireann said Friday will be another cold day with sunny spells and scattered wintry showers and highest temperatures ranging between three to six degrees.
Cloud will increase from the southwest on Friday night with showers becoming isolated as rain spreads into southwestern coastal counties by the morning. Moderate westerly winds will ease and lowest temperatures will fall to between minus two and three degrees with frost in the north and east.
Saturday will be cold at first and it will become dull or cloudy with rain in the southwest and west, slowly spreading eastwards. The rain will turn heavy on Saturday evening and overnight and may turn to sleet or snow. It will become milder on Sunday with temperatures reaching eight to eleven degrees.
Met Éireann said early indications suggest Monday will stay mostly dry with some sunny spells followed by milder conditions on Tuesday with some outbreaks of rain.
