Weather Ireland: Chance of more snow on Saturday after freezing temperatures leads to icy patches –Met Éireann

Saturday will see some clear spells throughout the day, however some scattered showers are expected to bring hail, sleet or snow.

It will be cold morning with frost and some icy stretches, followed by sunny spells and scattered showers today.

Fresh to strong and gusty northerly winds will develop in the southwest, west and northwest but will be light to moderate in other areas. Highest temperatures of 4 to 7 degrees.

Tonight will be cold and frosty with some icy stretches developing, as temperatures fall to between -2 and +3 degrees. There will be a mix of clear spells and scattered showers.

Most of these will be of rain but a few hail, sleet or snow showers are possible. Light to moderate west to northwest winds, fresh at times in the west.

A nationwide Status Yellow ice warning in effect until 9am this morning has expired, and while a Status Yellow rain warning for Dublin, Louth, Meath and Wicklow expired at 3am.

Motorists and pedestrians are advised to travel with extreme caution today after temperatures fell to -1C in places overnight, leading to much of the slush and snow which fell yesterday freezing overnight.

Temperatures will only reach between three and seven degrees today but conditions should ease somewhat as temperatures climb slightly this afternoon.

The weekend will see sunny spells, scattered showers and some northerly breezes as heavier showers are expected in parts.

Some showers could fall as hail, sleet and snow in the west and north of the country, with temperatures expected to drop to between -2C and 3C overnight, Met Éireann said.

An Post will operate some delivery services across the country today due to the delays and disruptions experienced.

There was widespread disruption yesterday as snowfall led to school closures and difficult travel conditions.

Counties in the east and midlands were heaviest hit with some facing power outages throughout the day.

Dublin city was particularly badly hit, which caused significant disruption in the capital.

One Dublin councillor said the weather warning system “failed” yesterday as the city was brought to a near standstill due to heavy snowfall.

Icy weather conditions led to heavy traffic and delays across bus routes while Dart, commuter and Intercity Irish Rail services were also significantly affected.

Dublin Airport was operating as normal yesterday, though some airlines warned of potential delays.

Ryanair urged passengers travelling to and from Ireland yesterday and today to follow updates from the airline on their flight.

Aer Lingus said it was experiencing “significant” delays due to adverse weather conditions.

Met Éireann received criticism for not issuing weather warnings soon enough to the public, as many woke up to a difficult morning commute.

Meteorologist Siobhán Ryan said warnings were issued to reflect a “complex and dynamic” situation.

“Warnings were issued to reflect this borderline situation and within that warning, there was mention of sleet and snow,” she told RTÉ’s Drivetime.

She said snow can be difficult to predict and a difference of one degree in temperature can determine whether there will be snowfall.

“The main feature (this weekend) will be rain,” said Ms Ryan.

“It’s still going to feel cold, it’s going to feel wintry – but most of the precipitation will fall as rain. But that’s not to exclude very localised falls of sleet and snow.”

Local representatives have said the warning of rain, sleet and snow in the early hours of yesterday morning likely came “too late”.

Dublin Commuters chairperson ­Feljin Jose said few people were prepared for the snow that fell in the capital yesterday and the major disruption to public transport that followed.

He said the limited preparation was “disappointing” and measures should be taken to improve the response to such weather events. “We need to be better prepared. The network should be able to deal with snow,” Mr Jose said.

“It was not ideal for anyone. The footpaths were not great either. A lot of people don’t know how to drive in this weather.

“With climate change, these kinds of weather events are going to be more frequent. Things are going to become more unpredictable. We will get snow, heatwaves, torrential rain, extreme weather events and everyone needs to be more prepared for that.

“Transport operators and local authorities definitely need to be prepared for it because these events are getting more and more frequent.”

Conditions in Dublin city suburbs like Clontarf quickly became “dangerous” yesterday morning, local councillor Donna Cooney said.

“We’re going to expect more of this unpredictable weather but we do need to be more adaptable. We need to adapt, particularly in local areas with localised monitoring systems,” said Ms Cooney.

“We are lucky that we seem to have gotten off without accidents.”

Dublin city councillor James ­Geoghegan said the weather warning system had “failed” and led to widespread disruption across the capital.

“Nobody expects our national meteorological service to get it right every time, but when forecasts and warnings are understated, it’s important we learn from it,” he said.

The Fine Gael councillor said the scenes across the city were a reminder of our reliance on weather warning systems and what happens when they fall short in their predictions.

“Met Eireann deserves a lot of credit for issuing weather warnings in high winds even if it frustrates parents and forces the closure of schools,” he said.

“This time, however, we need to acknowledge that the system has failed. Just like freak snow events of recent times, there is chaos on the M50, trains had to be cancelled and there is no grit on our footpaths.

“No lessons seem to have been learnt from past events, and whatever about predicting the weather, when the snow does come, our local authorities and public transport providers should have a plan in place to protect public safety and avoid the city simply shutting down.”

Fianna Fáil councillor Trevor Gilligan said an increased number of salt bins and additional funding should be allocated to tackle local roads in the event of future snow.

“You wouldn’t have expected the first day of spring to have such heavy rain and snow but it’s happened, here we are. This may very well happen next March or it could snow in May for all we know, we have to be prepared,” he said.

Dublin City Council (DCC) crews gritted main roads in the city and were on site to deal with localised flooding issues from early yesterday morning.

The gritting operation will continue throughout the weekend if required, with surface water drainage crews also on call as rainfall is monitored, a DCC spokesperson said.

“As it will not be possible to treat all roads and footpaths, road users are advised to exercise caution over the coming days,” said the spokesperson.​