Fresh status orange warning issued as Cork braces for ‘extremely cold’ spell

A fresh status orange low temperature and ice warning has been issued by Met Éireann as Cork braces for “extremely cold” weather.

The new warning will be in place from Thursday at 6pm until 12pm on Friday.

Extremely cold conditions have been forecast by Met Éireann which could see temperatures could drop as low as -11 degrees overnight with some showers of hail, sleet and snow expected, mainly in coastal areas.

The forecaster said that freezing fog will also occur at times, with winds remaining light over land.

Status orange warning for Thursday 

A status orange low temperature and ice warning had already been in place for Cork until Thursday.

The warning for 19 counties including Cork came into effect at 6pm on Wednesday, with widespread temperatures below -5 degrees Celsius predicted, leading to severe frost and ice.

Met Éireann has said possible impacts of this cold spell include treacherous conditions on paths and roads, travel disruption, potential supply disruption, the potential for burst water pipes and damage to engines, increased risks to vulnerable members of the community, animal welfare issues, and slack winds over land leading to reduced wind power generation.

Met Éireann has forecast that temperatures will reach as low as -7 degrees tonight, and locally a few degrees lower. Temperatures at the coasts will be around -1 to +1 degrees.

Weekend forecast 

Looking ahead to the remainder of the week, tomorrow will remain below freezing during the morning and in the afternoon temperatures generally will be between zero and +2 degrees, a few degrees higher on coasts.

Friday may be foggy for some time in places and it will be mainly dry with isolated showers on coasts creeping inland into western areas in the afternoon.

Lowest temperatures of - 3 degrees to +2 degrees are forecast on Friday night, with lingering showers of rain and sleet in western areas.

It will be mainly dry and sunny on Saturday with some isolated coastal showers in the south and west.

Saturday is forecast to turn more cloudy after nightfall. Met Éireann has said that there is “still a good deal of uncertainty in the forecast from Saturday night and Sunday onwards”.

Current indications suggest that an increasing southerly wind will bring rain and a spell of milder weather for a time.