What a difference a year makes. If only we had a time machine, we’d head straight back to March last year when Ireland was lolling around in record temperatures and proper sunshine.
We were, as we always are, in the midst of plunging property prices, the euro crisis but at least the weather was OK.
On March 27th last year, The Irish Times reported that Ireland was set for three more days of “wall-to-wall” sunshine and that temperatures had passed 20 degrees Celsius.
Back in 2013, Met Éireann today issued new weather warnings for continued wintry weather. The national forecaster has issued an orange alert for snow and ice in counties Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Wicklow and Meath, today and tonightIt warns of accumulations of up to 5cm.
As the snow hit overnight, Dublin Bus earlier put diversions in place on routes 44 and 18, 83, 38, 39 and 70. There were "very poor" conditions on parts of the N3, AA Roadwatch said. There were several collisions on the M4 in Co Kildare, it said. Conditions were "treacherous" on parts of the M4 and N7, AA Roadwatch said.
In the North farmers have been hit hard with many having to rescue stranded livestock at the height of the lambing season.
An RAF Chinook helicopter was called in yesterday to help as part of an emergency operation in Northern Ireland as farms and families were cut off by huge snow drifts
In the UK forecasters have predicted that the bitterly cold weather could last until almost the end of April.