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Big Freeze

No sign of thaw as freezing fog leaves black ice

Huge swathes of road remain deceptively slippery this morning, as sub-zero temperatures remain nationwide.

MANY OF THE COUNTRY’S roads remain treacherous this morning, despite most of the country escaping without fresh snowfall over the weekend.

The lowest overnight temperatures were once again in the east of the country, where temperatures at Casement Aerodrome at Baldonnell outside Dublin hit -9°C as of 7am, while car thermometers in Wicklow reported temperatures as low as -14°C.

Drivers, accordingly, are being asked to take extreme care on the roads, as black ice begins to form on roads that have apparently recovered from the cold snaps.

Similarly, pedestrians are being asked to remain cautious in travelling, with pavements also remaining treacherous despite the apparent removal of solid ice from some areas.

Admissions to emergency rooms across the country are up more than 50% on the usual average admissions for this time of year, The Irish Times reports, with many incurring fractures and other injuries after falling on black ice.

Met Éireann says overnight temperatures will remain typically sub-zero across the country until the weekend, though daytime temperatures will begin to return to normal in the coming days.

High-lying areas on the west coast could yet experience new snowfall, however, with wet weather systems from the Atlantic bringing rain that may turn to snow before falling.

Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann are again pledging to run almost full services, with the majority of routes running as mapped though with some curtailments and adjusted routes.

National services are generally all running on full schedules, albeit with delays in some areas, while Dublin Bus continues to curtail routes running into housing estates where roads remain icy and remain without grit.

Iarnród Éireann is operating all services (including the service from Clonsilla to the M3 Parkway, which had remained closed for much of last week) though all trains are subject to some delays, while the Luas network is fully operational on both lines with the exception of the Connolly stop.

Up-to-date weather and transport information can be found on the following websites:

Twitter users can get weather news through TheJournal.ie’s curated ‘Big Freeze’ list.