Up to six inches of snow fell in parts of Cos Meath and Monaghan in a 12-hour period to early yesterday morning.
Some of the worst-hit areas were Carrickmacross, Monaghan town, Kells, Oldcastle, Nobber and Athboy as well as parts of Cavan. Around three inches fell in Dundalk.
Gardai around the region warned motorists not to drive unless absolutely necessary. Local authority employees gritted national and secondary routes yesterday and were due to do so again today. Side roads were described as treacherous. "There was an initial frost followed by snow and with no sign of a thaw. Our advice is the roads are passable but treacherous," said gardai in Ashbourne.
In Co Monaghan many roads were covered with packed snow, and traffic slowed to around 20 m.p.h. Some early-morning buses were cancelled, although services later returned to normal. In Monaghan and Cavan snowfalls caused heavy goods vehicles to get stuck at the bottom of hills. This caused traffic delays at New Inn between Virginia and Cavan town yesterday.