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Thousands without power as Met Éireann issues fresh snow and ice warning
Thousands are without power after a weekend of snowfall, with more on the way after Met Éireann issued a fresh snow and ice warning for the country.
Schools closed as outpatient appointments and day services for Monday were cancelled by the HSE in Cork, Kerry, south Tipperary, Laois and parts of the mid-west after “significant accumulations of snow”.
Met Éireann has issued a status yellow snow and ice warning for the whole country from midday on Monday for a 24-hour period. The forecaster said “wintry showers” will bring further snowfall. This will lead to hazardous travelling conditions with poor visibility and travel disruption expected.
The entire country is also under a status yellow low temperature/ice warning until noon on Thursday. Under this warning, Met Éireann is predicting “very cold nights with widespread frost and ice”. Temperatures will “struggle to get above freezing during the day”.
The National Emergency Co-ordination Group is meeting this morning and director Keith Leonard said the key focus will be on trying to restore power and water to people. Some 41,000 homes, farms and businesses are without power and approximately 40,000 customers are without water.
Members of the Defence Forces were deployed yesterday and again today to support ESB networks in restoring power. Additionally, they assisted in reaching homes with limited access alongside the civil defence and other voluntary emergency groups.
Mr Leonard told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that key national agencies and local authorities had been working “extremely hard” with some 390 salt spreaders and snow ploughs covering over 13,000km of road networks on Sunday. He said there was enough salt and grit available to continue through the week.
This will lead to icy and glassy conditions on roads and any slush left from melting snow will also freeze again. He said there will be “very, very treacherous conditions” on roads in the next few days.
An estimated 41,000 homes, farms and businesses are still without power as of Monday morning.
The counties predominantly affected are Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Carlow, Laois and Wicklow according to the ESB. The company has also said that “further power outages can be expected”.
However, it said on Sunday that it expects that power restoration in the worst affected areas “will take multiple days” as freezing temperatures and hazardous conditions are “slowing down restoration efforts”
Elsewhere, Uisce Éireann is working to restore supplies to approximately 40,000 people in, Cork, Limerick, Kerry and Tipperary. Supplies to a further 30,000 people are at risk due to low reservoir levels.
According to Uisce Éireann, freezing weather conditions, coupled with rain or snow, are “impacting efforts and leading to delays” in repairing leaks.
A blackbird searches for food in the snow-covered ground in Limerick during the ongoing cold weather. Picture: Damien StoranHead of water operations, Margaret Attridge urged households, businesses and farmers “to protect outside taps and to insulate exposed pipes and tanks which are particularly vulnerable to freezing.”
“We are asking people to check for leaks and to turn off water to exterior pipes or unoccupied premises.
“Alternatively, people may consider setting the heating for these areas to come on periodically at a lower temperature. This allows warm air to circulate and will help to prevent pipes and tanks from freezing in the cold weather,” she added.
According to reports, all schools in Fermoy, Co Cork, will remain closed on Monday.
It is also expected that almost all schools in counties Carlow and Kilkenny will not reopen on Monday after the Christmas holidays.
The Carlow Institute of Further Education and Training campus will also remain closed.
It has been confirmed that most schools in Kildare will not be opening today due to the snow, and primary schools in Naas will also be shut.
On Sunday, the Department of Education anticipated that most schools would “open as normal” on Monday morning.
The decision to close a school “is a matter for individual school management authorities” around the country, as they are “best placed to do this” in light of local weather conditions.
Michael, Tommy and Aisling O’Meara having fun in the snow at Whitechurch, Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan
Because school transport services may operate on rural or secondary roads, which may be untreated, this could “result in disruption” during adverse weather conditions.
If a school plans to close or where transport is affected, communications of such decisions will be issued locally between schools and parents or transport providers and parents.
The decision to close an early learning and childcare setting also rests with the setting’s management, and higher education institutions will decide on the appropriate weather-related measures to take.
In an update on Sunday evening, the HSE clarified that given hazardous conditions in Cork, Kerry, south Tipperary, Laois and parts of the mid-west, it has cancelled some services in those areas including outpatient appointments and day services on Monday.
It said that, where possible, its teams would make contact directly with those who use our day centre services in disability, mental health or older people to advise them of disruptions, or families can contact their local day service directly to get an update.
HSE CEO Bernard Gloster said: “Where we defer any service it will be rearranged or rescheduled as quickly as possible. We regret any impact this has on our patients and their families however we must do all we can to ensure the safety of those who use our services and our staff. Any cancellations over the coming days are limited to those areas where travel is difficult.
Some schools in Waterford have said they will remain closed because of current weather conditions.“It is important to say that we are doing all we can to ensure continuity of critical services including ambulance, ED, dialysis, oncology treatment and prenatal care for expectant mothers.
“We are also taking steps in affected counties to prioritise people living alone and who need home support or community healthcare visits. If you are in any doubt or worried please contact your service, however for the most part, if you haven’t heard from us your appointment or the service you attend is not impacted at this time.
“Finally, despite the extremely difficult conditions in some parts of the country, we would urge anyone requiring urgent emergency care to attend their local emergency department for treatment. As always, our emergency departments provide emergency care to patients 24/ 7.”
The HSE South West said that all non-urgent appointments such as outpatient appointments and other clinical appointments in Cork HSE services are cancelled for Monday.
All non-urgent appointments at CUH, South Infirmary Victoria Hospital; Mercy University Hospital; Bantry Hospital and Mallow Hospital will not go ahead.
The HSE said it will contact all patients with urgent appointments such as dialysis and chemotherapy to make arrangements, while staff will also be in touch to arrange a rescheduled appointment.
“HSE staff are prioritising service delivery for vulnerable patients and those with acute care needs. Staff are making transport arrangements for patients to get to vital appointments such as dialysis and urgent cancer care appointments.”
People walking in the snow at Whitechurch, Cork. Picture: Dan LinehanSimilarly, Monday’s outpatient appointments have also been cancelled at Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel.
The hospital has been hit with heavy snowfall, with local contractors seen clearing the path to the emergency department earlier today.
Hospital management says the situation will be kept under daily review, and all appointments will be rescheduled.
Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) has confirmed that while all maternity appointments will proceed as scheduled on Monday, gynaecology appointments at both CUMH and the Lee Clinic are cancelled, and will be rescheduled.
Patients awaiting urgent gynaecology appointments will be contacted directly by the hospital.
A number of Bus Éireann services have also been cancelled on Monday morning. These include the Cork/Waterford services, Cork/Clonmel, and Cork/Fermoy services.
Commuters are urged to check ahead before they travel.
Iarnród Éireann has confirmed that the Limerick to Ballybrophy, via Nenagh, services will not operate on Monday morning and the rail service added that bus transfers will not operate due to road conditions.
The 7.45am Midleton to Cork service has also been cancelled due to poor weather conditions.
On Sunday, a number of rail routes were affected by the snow and ice conditions, including the Cork/Dublin service, Tralee/Mallow and Limerick/Limerick Junction and Limerick/Ballybrophy via Nenagh services.
Elsewhere, the main runway at Cork Airport has since reopened. It was closed for a period of time on Sunday evening with some flights being diverted to Dublin and Shannon.
This allowed teams to clear snow and ice from runways as well as adjoining taxiways.
“Passengers seeking flight information should contact their airline or refer to their airline website/mobile app for the most up-to-date information,” a spokesperson said.
On Sunday afternoon, the Road Safety Authority issued updated travel advice, and warned that, even after the weather warnings currently in place are lifted, roads are likely to “remain treacherous for days due to a dangerous combination of rain, sleet, snow, ice, and extremely low temperatures”.
The RSA said these conditions “pose significant challenges to mitigation efforts such as sanding and gritting, requiring extra vigilance and care from all road users”.
Echoing the advice of several local authorities, the RSA said that it “strongly advises against unnecessary travel, including trips for snow tourism”.
“Staying off the road network unless absolutely essential and/or using safer modes of travel not only reduces your risk and the strain on emergency services but also helps keep roads clear for essential travel,” it said.