Motorists were last night warned of further treacherous conditions on the roads as temperatures plummeted below freezing over the past 48 hours.
Gardaí have requested that drivers avoid making any unnecessary journeys. Throughout the country icy and wet conditions caused havoc on roads during much of Christmas Day and yesterday.
Over the past two days there were more than two dozen accidents on the M50 in Dublin. Regional routes and motorways across the country were said to be treacherous.
It was the first white Christmas in nearly a decade and Met Éireann warned that road conditions remained treacherous. There were reports of black ice in many areas - the M50 was particularly dangerous. There were also reports of black ice across the midlands and the southern half of the country.
In Co Cork conditions in Cobh were very bad, especially on Fota Road. The N11 was very icy on the approach into Gorey. Regional routes and motorways in Kildare were icy.
Gardaí in Westmeath said conditions there were also bad. In Longford, the Ballymahon to Athlone road was treacherous. In Cavan the N3 was dangerous, particularly around Cootehill. In Louth, there was black ice on the roads north of Slane.
In the west two brothers in their fifties had to be airlifted to hospital in Galway following a single car accident on the island of Inishbofin as a result of the extreme weather in the early hours of yesterday.
In homes across Connemara and parts of Galway city thousands of parents found themselves scrabbling for torches and candles as children unwrapped presents and cavorted in snow in darkness during several hours of power cuts early on Saturday.
Up to 10,000 households were affected at the peak period, according to the ESB.
The blackout was caused when a lightning arrestor failed in the ESB sub-station at Oughterard. "Someone reported seeing a small fire,which would have been possible given the high 38kv voltage," an ESB spokesman said. This put pressure on other lines, while weather conditions would also have contributed, he said.
Electricity supplies were cut from about 6.30 a.m. throughout Connemara, extending from Carna east to Recess and Oughterard and south to Kilcolgan. Supplies in Galway city, including Salthill and Knocknacarra, were also cut from shortly before 8 a.m., but power was restored there after about 20 minutes. The longest failure period was in Oughterard, but Christmas tree lights came on again shortly before 11 a.m. - in time for preparing Christmas dinner.
On the Aran islands one of the only parts of the west to be spared snowfalls on Saturday, a thunderstorm shortly after lunchtime was followed by a dramatic hailstorm.
Power was cut on part of Inis Mór but was restored during the afternoon.
The Aran island lifeboat crew was at sea during Thursday and Christmas Eve, along with the Galway inshore lifeboat, as a search continued for a woman reported missing in west Galway last week.
In Galway city near blizzard conditions did not deter hundreds of swimmers from taking an icy dip at Blackrock in Salthill throughout Saturday morning.
Many participants were raising funds for various local charities, including Cope, the homeless organisation.
Saturday's falls of snow remained on the Twelve Bens and the Maumturks yesterday, but a dry bright day with a light north-westerly breeze brought a thaw to Galway city and county.
Birdwatchers set out to count Brent geese from the Canadian Arctic grazing on wetlands near Salthill.Driving conditions were said to be reasonable on all main roads, but gardaí urged caution on secondary routes.
