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Updated at 11.50am
A STATUS ORANGE snow-ice warning has been issued for seven counties in the east of Ireland, as the country gears up for an “exceptionally cold” week.
The wintry chill from Siberia has already began sweeping across Europe, with Ireland set to get hit with snow showers on what is to be a very cold Monday, according to Met Éireann.
The snow-ice warning has been issued for Dublin, Carlow, Kildare, Laois, Louth, Wicklow and Meath.
The warning will be valid from 3pm tomorrow until 11am on Wednesday.
Met Éireann has warned that scattered snow showers later tomorrow evening will lead to accumulations of between 4cm to 6cm by Wednesday morning.
The government’s National Emergency Coordination Group for Severe Weather is meeting today to make preparations for the coming days.
A weather advisory warning issued yesterday said that air and ground temperatures will be five to 10 degrees below normal, with “significant wind chill and penetrating severe frosts”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Met Éireann’s Evelyn Cusack said it’ll be close to “blizzard conditions” at stages throughout the week.
She added that it is possible that a red nationwide warning could be issued this week, which would be the first time since last year’s Storm Ophelia.
The forecast for today predicts “very cold” temperatures and “generally dry, but some snow flurries are likely later today in eastern coastal counties”.
Temperatures will plunge overnight, ranging from -2 to -5 degrees.
Snow showers are set to become fairly frequent across Leinster, east Ulster and southeast Munster tomorrow night.
Wednesday looks set to be the day the “Beast from the East” bites hardest, with daytime temperatures only ranging from -1 to 2 degrees.
Again the snow will be heaviest in the east of the country with frost and ice nationwide, before plunging to -7 degrees overnight into Thursday.
To prepare for the freezing conditions, the government’s severe weather task force will meet at 10.30am this morning.
Homelessness
The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government advises that this “weather event is likely to have a significant and disruptive impact”.
It advises the public to be aware of Met Éireann’s yellow, orange and red warnings, and to take appropriate action.
Irish Water has mobilised its crisis management arrangements to deal with the expected weather, as severe weather can result in big demand increases on its network with additional pipe bursts and additional water use.
Minister Eoghan Murphy, meanwhile, has said that extra beds will be made available to rough sleepers in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford during this week. He said that rough sleepers require additional supports and the government is “working hard to implement solutions”.
Also speaking on Morning Ireland, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) director Eileen Gleeson urged anyone who sees a rough sleeper in the capital to report it using its online facility so that they can respond.
Gleeson said that it is possible that people sleeping on the streets may not be aware of the weather that is being forecast.
She said: “That is our biggest challenge. They may not be aware of what’s coming. It’s also vital that anyone who sees someone homeless out there report it so we can respond.”
Inner City Helping Homeless will be issuing thermal clothing from its office on Amien Street today, after receiving the donation of clothing from Marks and Spencer.
Pat Doyle, CEO of Peter McVerry Trust, said the charity has been working with the DRHE and local authorities “to coordinate our response” and “will be putting in place a series of exceptional measures this week in order to get as many people out of the extreme cold weather which represents a clear threat to life for people who sleep rough”.
Older people
Alone, the charity that supports older people to age at home, has encouraged members of the public to look out for older people in the community who may live alone.
Seán Moynihan, CEO of Alone, said: “Cold temperatures can have a serious effect on many older people, in particular those living alone, those with health issues, and those with limited mobility.”
Moynihan encouraged older people to prioritise their spending on heating during the cold weather, noting that half of so-called ‘excess winter deaths’ experienced in Ireland can be linked to heating issues.
He said that, based on 2013 figures, one in 10 people aged over 65 who lived alone were unable to keep their homes adequately warm.
We are calling on all members of the public to remember their older neighbours living alone, and to consider their needs.
“We’re advising older people to stay warm in the cold weather by ensuring they have adequate home heating, wearing layers of light but warm clothing, eating at least one hot meal a day and staying indoors where possible,” Moynihan said.
Workers
Employers are being advised to remain vigilant this week in relation to the weather conditions over the next few days.
The Irish SME Association has noted that unlike Storm Ophelia, employers now have the opportunity to prepare for this weather event.
The association is advising employers to take time to put measures in place to reduce the potential business impact the weather could have.
It said employers should have up-to-date contact information for all employees within the organisation in case a last-minute decision needs to be communicated to staff members. It also said a plan should be put in place regarding how to communicate to customers and clients about the potential impact closing the business could have.
“Flexibility should be allowed for employees, especially those who have some distance to travel. Where employees are present in the workplace, care should be taken to remain vigilant for any worsening conditions and cancelled/amended travel services throughout the day,” a statement from the association said.
With reporting by Órla Ryan and Hayley Halpin
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Methinks the DUP will continue to find excuses not to restart the Stormont Assembly until the next election cycle because they didn’t like the result of the last ones.
@Des Leavy: Yea agree and the DUP MPs in Westminster are riding roughshod over their own MLAs in Stormont.
You can take a horse to water but you can’t make him drink as the old saying goes but if he doesn’t drink he will die and I think that is what,s happening to the DUP at this stage the horse has shot himself in three of his legs so there is just one left
Can’t imagine two failed, incompetent politicians like Truss and Johnson are going to bring much to the party?
@Paul Shepherd: Truss is over to have a ganders at those “ few farmers with turnips in their trucks”!!!
@M Bowe: and Johnson probably thinks a work event so he’ll have a suitcase full of booze from Tesco….
@Paul Shepherd: I was wondering exactly the same. Two hard line Brexiteers who are along with the DUP responsible for the current mess.
Biden describes himself as Irish-American where he identifies strongly with an external Irish culture but is American nonetheless. Likewise,Varadkar and Sunak are both Indian-Irish and Indian-British on the same basis and depending on how much identify with the external Indian culture.
Neither Sunak nor Varadkar is biracial as the invalid biological notion of ‘races’ is a throwback to another era where a section of influential English society saw themselves as an Anglo-Saxon ‘race’ with an imperative to be aggressive and exterminate native cultures.
The Brexiteers are among the last of that section of their society with their total disregard for the island of Ireland along with the hapless Unionists who identify as Irish-British as they a born on the island of Ireland and identify with an external British culture.
To tackle an artificial races/racism conviction inherited from dangerous people in the 19th century is an enormous endeavour yet, almost immediately, readers can see how absurd the whole thing is. It is on this basis that people on this island both North and South move forward and influence the wider world when it comes to the invalid notion of ‘races’.
But, none can influence Donaldson and his DUP share power or engage in the process he walked out on 25 years ago.
What the DUP want is self justification and they have been consistent?
It’s a perfect example of the importance of identity.
is it a microcosm for Brexit?
The most important people here are the DUPs financial backers. The business people of NI will have the final say.
Stop paying their salaries, and that might focus their minds on getting back to work.
Varadkar sunaking up to bill for forgiveness over his paddy’s day joke gaff
@P. V. Aglue: poor syntax
The DUP don’t care about what is happening right now. They keep saying the same thing over and over again in a different words: either 100% what they want or no agreement and no power sharing.
So all those flights of important ppl back and forth are and were pointless.
@Shesh: Don’t agree because now the whole world knows what a bunch of dinosaurs the DUP really are.
As the camera pans around there’s Leo Varadkar picking his nose…
Any disccusion about bringing peace at your home punjab!
Could we just stop talking about the Political Situation in Northern Ireland for the next 100 Years, and hopefully by then the DUP might have moved an inch or so.
Our great national broadcaster can’t be bothered showing coverage of this today. Not even on its news channel. Sky news showing all the speeches live earlier. Then again, not surprised by them
Ireland england scotland all indian people this must be a first well done folks thats impressive
You know if you take the most rabid unionist and republican lock them in a container, and don’t let them out until they sort out there difference or one kills the other . Either way you would have movement.
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@EmmaH: Are we going to talk about Leo or Rishi?
have your say