BLACK ICE and freezing fog will be the most dangerous aspects of the continuing low temperatures over the next few nights, according to Met Éireann.
Forecaster Gerard Fleming said temperatures would remain very low for the next three or four nights and there would be “unusual and nasty” freezing fog.
“Where you get freezing fog the moisture goes straight from the fog onto the road and you get black ice,” he said.
Snow piled up at the sides of roads would also contribute to the black ice; thawing in day time, wetting the roads and then refreezing.
“Black ice causes an even bigger problem for drivers than snow because they can’t see it,” Mr Fleming said.
Thin films of black ice on footpaths also make walking difficult for pedestrians.
The warning comes as it emerged yesterday the number of people presenting to emergency departments in hospitals was up to 50 per cent above the numbers one would expect at this time of year due to the ice.
Fractures from such falls tend to be complex and serious due to the speed of falling on ice.
Mr Fleming said a weather system today would initially bring rain that would turn to snow on high ground. Donegal, Mayo, Sligo and possibly Cavan could experience snowfalls.
Temperatures would be low for the next three or four nights with frosty, icy mornings, he said. From midweek onwards temperatures were expected to rise gradually toward “normal” daytime December temperatures of 7 or 8 degrees.
It should be mild enough to allow a significant clearance of snow and ice, but this could take up until next Sunday, Mr Fleming said. The clearing process would be much slower than in January when very mild air moved over the country and cleared everything very quickly.
Gardaí called on the public to continue to exercise extreme caution on the roads. A spokesman said public transport should be used where possible and motorists should not make unnecessary journeys.
He also said pedestrians should avoid walking on the road and should wear high-visibility jackets.
“We would ask people to keep in contact with neighbours, particularly those living alone, to call around and check on them and to not assume that someone else will do so,” the spokesman said.
In Mayo, an 85-year-old man was killed on Saturday when he slipped on an icy patch in his farmyard.
Peter Irwin from Derryhillagh, Castlehill, Ballina, had been checking livestock on his farm near the northern slope of Nephin mountain around midday on Saturday when the fall occurred.
He was found about an hour later by relatives who came to check on him. He was brought by ambulance to Mayo General Hospital where he was declared dead. Mr Irwin was the third elderly person to die due to the current weather conditions.