Live Updates:
Saturday, 17th
Clare County Fire and Rescue crews from Ennis station have responded to multiple calls since they were first alerted at around 6.30am.
Crews have attended several road traffic collisions and a domestic flooding as well as a number of ‘ambulance assist’ calls. There are calls attended by the fire service when the National Ambulance Service (NAS) requires additional resources.
Several of the calls today involved assisting NAS crews whose vehicles got into difficulty on icy roads.
Met Éireann’s Status Yellow Ice Warning for Clare will remain in place until 9.00am on Sunday.
The weather service says there’ll be ice in places leading to hazardous travelling conditions, especially on untreated roads and paths. Rain tonight, with wintry falls locally, will fall on already frozen surfaces leading to further development of icy conditions for a time.
There are very dangerous, icy conditions on the Corkscrew Hill and Kilnaboy to Corofin Road. Motorists are advised to avoid these areas.@ClareFM @ClareChampion @ClareEcho @theclareherald pic.twitter.com/TBCyQJ4qlO
— Clare County Council (@ClareCoCo) December 17, 2022
Meanwhile, Clare County Council is advising the public that road conditions will be dangerous this evening, Saturday 17th December, and will continue to be dangerous into the early hours of tomorrow, Sunday 18th December, as ground temperatures remain below zero.
Road users should be advised that widespread icy conditions are expected and that ice free surfaces cannot be guaranteed even on treated roads.
We are advising the public to only travel if absolutely necessary, and if you are doing so, extreme caution should be exercised. Do not make unnecessary journeys where possible.
Roads
*The Kilmaley to Inagh road from the junction at Bealcragga is frozen over in several places and is impassable. Multiple vehicles have been left stranded along the route and is said to be very dangerous.
Gardaí are advising motorists to avoid the area.
*The Corofin to Ennistymon road via Lake Inchiquin and Rath Church is in a very dangerous state.
*The Ennis to Ennistymon road is reported to be dangerous in places.
*The Ennis to Corofin road is treacherous in places with thick fog still lingering.
*A care is reported to have left the road and overturned near Kilshanny. No injuries have been reported.
*The N67 Ennistymon/Lisdoonvarna/Corkscrew Hill and the Lisdoonvarna to Kilfenora road are particularly hazardous at present.
*The R352 Scarriff to Mountshannon is also reported to be in a dangerous condition.
*A number of minor road collisions have been reported across the county mostly on country roads which remain in a very dangerous condition.
Roads across Clare are reported to be in a dangerous conditions this morning. While temperatures continue to rise slowly, it still remains cold with temperatures around 0C is many areas.
Clare County Council is warning that extreme caution should be exercised by road users this morning and later today due to widespread black ice on the network. The winter maintenance team are continuing to treat the priority routes where safe to do so. The ongoing rain showers are affecting the treatment.
It may not be evident that there are icy conditions due to the rain and as there may be no frost on cars, however this is deceptive and extreme caution should be exercised.
Gardaí have said: “With little thaw over the last few days, we are encouraging people to drive safely, leave extra space between you and the vehicle in front of you and drive at a speed appropriate to road conditions.”
Friday, 16th
The Clare County Council Winter Maintenance team continue to be deployed across priority routes on the road network in County Clare.
Ground temperatures remain below zero and showers of rain are coming in from the west throughout the next 24 hours which will result in icy conditions even on treated road surfaces.
Road users should be advised that widespread icy conditions are expected and that ice free surfaces cannot be guaranteed even on treated roads.
Winter Maintenance treatment of priority roads will continue along with the ongoing monitoring of road conditions.
Drivers are advised to take exceptional care when travelling on the roads in the current weather conditions.
Temperatures across Clare remain well below zero while the county remains under a Status Orange Low Temperature/Ice warning.
The Met Éireann alert is due to expire at midday today however motorists are still being advised to driver carefully.
At 10.00am today, the temperature at Met Éireann’s Automatic Climate Station (ACS) located near the village of Tulla in County Clare was -6.9C.
The temperature at Carron in the Burren was -3.8C; Mount Callan near Kilmaley 2.3C and Ballysallagh West, Newmarket on Fergus 1.4C.
A Status Orange – Low Temperature/Ice warning for Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Munster, Connacht has been issued for Friday.
One Status Orange warning expired at midday today (Thursday) but the second alert will take effect at 6.00pm and last until midday on Friday.
Met Éireann is warning that it will be extremely cold on Thursday night with temperatures below -5 degrees expected widely, leading to severe frost and ice.
Thursday, 7.35am – A temperature of minus 8.9 degrees (-8.9C) has been recorded at Met Éireann’s weather observation site near Tulla in East Clare this morning.
The temperature dropped steadily from -3.5C at 8.00pm yesterday to -8.9C at 6.30am today as the county remains under a Status Orange Low Temperature/Ice warning until midday today. Another Status Orange will come into effect this evening at 6.00pm.
The reading was detected at the Tulla Clare Automatic Climate Station (ACS) – located near the village of Tulla in County Clare. The Climate Station was installed and is maintained by Met Éireann.
Earlier: Met Éireann has issued a new Status Orange Low Temperature/Ice warning for Clare and most of the rest of the country.
The forecaster is warning of extremely cold on Wednesday night with widespread temperatures below -5 degrees leading to severe frost and ice.
The warning will take effect at 6 o’clock this evening (Wednesday) and remain in place until midday on Thursday. The warning relates to at total 19 counties including Clare, Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Cavan, Monaghan, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Galway, Leitrim, Roscommon.
An already issued Status Yellow – Low Temperature/Ice warning for Ireland will still remain in place until midday on Friday.
Met Éireann has said it will remain very cold through the week with widespread sharp to severe frosts and icy stretches. Some showers of hail, sleet and snow will occur, mainly near coasts. Accumulations at lower levels are expected to remain low. Freezing fog will occur at times, with winds remaining light over land.
Possible impacts include:
• Treacherous conditions on paths and roads
• Travel disruption
• Potential supply disruption
• Potential for burst water pipes and damage to engines
• Increased risks to vulnerable members of the community
• Animal welfare issues
• Slack winds over land leading to reduced wind power generation.
