Temperatures dipped well below zero again overnight as an Orange warning for low temperatures and ice is set to lift about now for Carlow, Kilkenny and 13 other counties.
The roads will be dangerous for drivers, with a yellow warning for ice until midday.
Most schools are back and businesses are settling into their usual routines though some have opted for reduced hours, others remaining closed.
However, all outpatient appointments, excluding obstetrics, in St Luke’s General Hospital, Carlow/Kilkenny have been cancelled for today (Friday, 10th Jan) – all affected patients have been notified.
The National Emergency Co-ordination Group is focused on getting those still without power or water reconnected as soon as possible while a planned ESB outage for parts of County Carlow has been cancelled.
Alan O’Reilly from Carlow Weather says it’ll be very chilly this morning but that will change, albeit at a slow pace, in the coming days; “We finally have a little bit of a rise in temperatures early in the morning, temperatures are slowly going to rise through Carlow and Kilkenny with a thaw very slowly to set in but there is still some showers this morning especially on higher ground they’ll fall as sleet and snow and that deep snow on high ground will take a number of days to thaw but an improving situation through the next couple of days”.
Meanwhile, Gardaí are urging motorists to slow down and exercise caution on the roads as severe weather conditions continue to impact the region.
With ice, and freezing fog making many roads hazardous, authorities are warning drivers to reduce their speed and increase their following distance.
Nationally in the past 72 hours over 350 drivers have been issued with fixed penalty notices for speeding while 29 motorists have been arrested on suspicion of Drink or Drug driving.
Divisional Roads Police Inspector Paul Donohue that speeding in this weather could end you up in hot water; “That’s something that is considered by the guards when they stop people, you know, dangerous driving and the definition of dangerous driving always includes and the manner and the condition of the road and the environment and everything comes into play with regards dangerous driving so if someone is driving in excess speeds on a motorway and it’s minus four, minus five, well the guard has the option, he doesn’t have to give them a speeding ticket he can prosecute him for dangerous or careless driving”.
