Latest: Cork County Council warns of hazardous driving conditions overnight

Latest:

Cork County Council is urging motorists to take extreme care on the roads as widespread frost and ice is forecast for the county.

A Met Éireann status yellow low temperature/ice warning comes into effect at 6pm tonight and will remain in place until 11am tomorrow. 

Potential impacts include hazardous travelling conditions and animal welfare conditions.

Met Éireann has also issued a weather advisory for sleet and snow in places this weekend. A spell of rain will spread northwards over Ireland during the course of Saturday, turning to sleet and snow in some areas. Rain, sleet and snow will continue for a time on Sunday leading to hazardous conditions and travel disruption.

Cork County Council began treating all Priority 1 and Priority 2 routes on Wednesday in accordance with its Winter Service Plan and will be closely monitoring conditions locally throughout the cold spell.

Salt and grit supplies have been checked and replenished across the county with gritting trucks ready for deployment when required.

Members of the public are being advised that wintry showers and icy surfaces will lead to difficult travel conditions.

• Driving conditions will be hazardous, even where roads are gritted, slow down, drive with caution, be aware of other road users and allow extra time for your journey;
• Take extra care while walking: footpaths etc. can be extremely hazardous/slippery due to ice;
• People are advised to prepare for this period of severe weather including ensuring their mobile phone is fully charged to enable communication;
• Keep your phone charged and take it with you on all journeys. In an emergency dial 999 or 112;
• Monitor Met Éireann forecasts and/or visit https://www.met.ie/ for the most up to date information. Information is available across social media platforms and other news media sources;
• ESB Emergency Services can be contacted at 1800 372 999. The public can monitor www.PowerCheck.ie;
• The Be Winter Ready website https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/aa78b9-be-winter-ready provides further advice on preparing for severe weather.
• Please contact the Cork County Council’s Out of Hours number 021 4800048 to report any out of hours issue.

Earlier:

The start of 2025 is set to be a very cold one in Cork with Met Éireann forecasting plummeting temperatures for the first weekend of January.

Met Éireann has issued a Status Yellow low temperature and ice warning for the entire country and temperatures are expected in some places to drop to as low as -3ºC.

The Status Yellow warning will be in effect from 6pm this evening until 11am tomorrow morning.

⚠️Status Yellow - Low Temperature/Ice warning for Ireland⚠️

Very cold with widespread frost & ice as temps fall to -3 C or below in many areas.

Potential Impacts:
➡️Hazardous travelling conditions
➡️Animal welfare issues

For more information: https://t.co/3041XHjphi pic.twitter.com/NmCx1AmikL

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) January 2, 2025

Temperatures in Cork are set to reach a high of 5ºC today, before dropping below zero later on tonight.

Met Éireann has warned about the potential of hazardous travelling conditions, while also advising that animal and pet welfare should be closely monitored.

Met Éireann is also forecasting for this weekend to be very cold, with a significant chance of snow expected.

In a statement the forecaster commented:

“Sleet and snow in places this weekend, with some disruption possible. 

“A spell of rain will spread northwards over Ireland during the course of Saturday, turning to sleet and snow in some areas.

“Rain, sleet and snow will continue for a time on Sunday before clearing eastwards into the Irish Sea. 

“Significant accumulations of snow are likely in some counties.” 

Next week is not set to see much in the way of an improvement, with temperatures remaining low and hazardous conditions expected through a combination of lying snow, severe frost and ice, and scattered wintry showers.