'Severe frost' and snow next week advises Met Éireann
Even more weather alerts warn of possible snow next week.
Severe frost and icy patches will extend into next week according to Met Éireann who issued a Weather Advisory stretching until Thursday, in its latest warning around the current cold snap. Fallen snow in some areas will be slow to clear, the advisory said.
Met Éireann already issued a status yellow snow-ice warning for Waterford on Saturday and Sunday, January 4 and 5. Sleet and snow are expected with snowfall accumulations likely across Waterford and many of the coastal counties, including much of Leinster, as well as Clare and Limerick.
Temperatures are expected to drop as low as -5 degrees on Sunday night, with Met Éireann warning that lowest temperatures on Tuesday night could reach a frigid -10 degrees.
The weather conditions may mean that snow in some areas will be slow to clear and Met Éireann has advised the public that wintry showers may be present at times.
In place from 5pm on Sunday, the advisory noted that hazardous travelling conditions are expected and said that travel and service disruptions are likely until 11pm on Thursday.
Met Éireann meteorologist Gerry Murphy has warned that “accumulations of snow in places on Monday morning coupled with a very severe frost" means that "there is the possibility that schools may not open."
He noted that further insight into possible school closures will "become more apparent as we go through the weekend”.
The meteorologist warned that sleet and snow are expected on Sunday, with Munster forecast to have low temperatures, he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
Met Éireann has forecast that Munster will see sleet and snow at times on Sunday, particularly over higher ground. The highest temperatures are expected to be between 1 and 6 degrees.
