Ireland’s recent cold snap that brought heavy snow to some areas and saw tens of thousands without power or water is coming to an end, Met Éireann said.
The bitterly cold Arctic air mass that has been affecting the country for several days will start to move away, with milder conditions developing later in the weekend.
However, as Met Éireann’s orange weather warning ended this morning, the national forecaster has warned against complacency.
The Garda has also warned of motorists breaking the speed limit and asked motorists to continue to drive at appropriate road speeds and to be aware of ice and black ice on the roads.
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Conditions remained cold across most of the country this morning, having dropped to minus 6 last night in parts of Co Roscommon.
Earlier, Met Éireann forecaster Aoife Kealy said this morning would be “bitterly cold for most with widespread frost, ice and black ice”.
She said tonight is “not going to be just as cold as previous nights, [with] lows of zero to four degrees, so still a chance of some frost and ice in light to moderate southeast winds tomorrow”.
The outlook for the coming days is for conditions gradually becoming milder through the weekend. But it will become dull with rain and drizzle at times early next week.
Supt Liam Geraghty of the Garda Press Office warned the force was still detecting motorists breaking the speed limit. He asked motorists to be aware that many roads were severely impacted by snow and ice and black ice remained in many areas.
He asked motorists to “slow down” and to be aware that the “appropriate speed” for the road conditions was often lower than the speed limit set for that stretch of road.
An Post has confirmed there will be deliveries on Saturday in the worst-affected areas and that An Post staff will check in on older customers living alone.
“County Kilkenny and Boherbue in northwest county Cork remain by far the worst-affected areas with little improvement in snow and ice accumulation,” a spokesperson said.
“As conditions slowly start to improve, An Post is attempting more letter and parcel deliveries wherever it is safe to do so and will make special attempts to deliver on Saturday in the affected areas, wherever resourcing and conditions allow.”
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