FORECAST:SNOW SHOWERS will continue to affect some parts of the country today but are forecast to become less frequent and intense as the week goes on.
Met Éireann said the midwestern, southwestern and eastern regions were most at risk of experiencing fresh snowfalls but that such showers would become less frequent from tomorrow onwards.
Forecaster Gerald Fleming told a meeting of the Government’s Severe Weather Co-ordination Committee yesterday that temperatures would stay below freezing point until Christmas Eve but would become considerably drier.
“That means that once the roads get treated, they should be easier to keep clear for traffic,” he said. “We don’t anticipate the same traffic problems on the 23rd and 24th as we’ve seen because the weather should be drier.”
On Monday night a temperature of -17.2 degrees was recorded at Straide, Co Mayo, which Mr Fleming said was a record low for December.
His comments came on another day of heavy snow across the country, which forced the closure of Dublin airport for a period and cancellations, diversions and curtailments on local and national bus networks.
Committee chairman Seán Hogan said local authorities across the State were working hard to ensure main routes stayed open even though conditions were very difficult on many main roads.
“Our objective remains to ensure that everything that can be done is and will be done to make sure that people can get to where they need to be over the Christmas [period],” he said.
Insp John Ferris of the Garda press office said sub-zero temperatures would continue to render roads dangerous for a number of days and he urged motorists to drive with caution and use public transport where possible.
Seán O’Neill of the National Roads Authority told the meeting that the amount of salt used nightly to treat motorways and primary roads would increase from 2,000 to 3,000 tonnes in the run-up to Christmas.
Mr O’Neill said two cranes and 130 trucks would be waiting at Cork harbour tomorrow morning to unload and distribute 4,000 tonnes of salt due to arrive from Turkey. He said stockpiles were currently at some 6,000 tonnes but that this would rise to 25,000 over the Christmas period.
He noted that about 75,000 tonnes of salt had been used to treat roads so far this year, compared to an average of 60,000.
Joe Crockett of the City and County Managers Association said council staff would continue to treat local roads.
He said arrangements was in place with the Irish Farmers Association and Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association to provide grit stockpiles for spreading on rural roads.
Mr Crockett said he did not expect any issues around water as supplies in most counties had not been seriously depleted despite the return of the freezing weather.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said water supplies would be switched off from 7pm yesterday to 7am this morning in Monkstown, Sallynoggin and Kill Avenue, while pressure would be reduced in Dundrum, Sandycove Glenageary, Dalkey and Foxrock.
Dublin City Council said night-time restrictions on water supply would continue in some areas until tomorrow but that these would be lifted between December 23rd and 28th.
Mr Fleming said he expected the weather to become milder from Christmas Day.
“That will be a gradual process but we will see the temperatures increase significantly through those days,” he said.
“That may bring its own problems. There will be areas which will have temporary flooding, but that will only be temporary and primarily in the northwest and flanks of the Wicklow mountains.”
