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LAST UPDATE | 9 Dec 2022
MET ÉIREANN HAS this afternoon extended its cold weather advisory to Wednesday with temperatures set to remain around freezing for the next six days.
Forecasters said it will remain very cold into the middle of next week due to an Arctic airmass, bringing sharp to severe frosts, and ice or black ice on roads and footpaths.
“Some showers of hail, sleet, and snow will occur, mainly in coastal counties. Freezing fog is likely at times, especially this weekend. Winds over land will remain generally light,” the forecast reads.
It was a snowy start to the morning in some parts of the country as temperatures dropped to as low as almost -5 degrees overnight.
A Status Yellow freezing fog warning is currently in place for Munster, Galway, Roscommon, Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow until 4pm.
Another Status Yellow freezing fog warning will then kick in at 4pm for the whole country and will remain in place until midday tomorrow.
A Status Yellow snow and ice warning is currently in place in Donegal until midday tomorrow.
A Status Yellow ice warning for the whole country will kick in at 7pm and will remain in place until midday tomorrow.
In Northern Ireland, the UK Met Office has a Yellow ice warning in place for Antrim, Down, Tyrone and Derry until midday on Sunday.
Snow fell in some areas of the country overnight, particularly in the east, with temperatures dropping as low as almost -5 degrees.
The coldest temperature in the country last night was recorded in Gurteen, Co Tipperary where conditions dropped to -4.7 degrees, followed by Mount Dillon, Co Roscommon at -4.5 degrees.
Very cold overnight with minimum air temperatures below average 🥶🌡️📉
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) December 9, 2022
Temperatures will continue to fall over the coming days so do take heed of warnings➡️https://t.co/BoUueCJ5zI
and advice from ➡️https://t.co/GgyXeUmEfC pic.twitter.com/0Gypbzvmpb
Temperatures aren’t expected to rise above 0 to 4 degrees today.
Met Éireann says it’ll be very cold and dry for much of the country today with low winter sunshine.
There will be icy stretches, with some lying snow and patches of freezing fog in some areas.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Phibsboro. #sneachta pic.twitter.com/aSasEfe4JB
— Craig Dwyer (@DwyerCraig) December 8, 2022
And then this started to happen …#sneachta #Dublin #Christmas22 pic.twitter.com/S54aD29kaE
— Pádraic Gilligan (@Padraicino) December 8, 2022
It’s going to be another bitterly cold night tonight with temperatures dropping as low as -5 degrees again.
There will be a widespread sharp to severe frost along with icy stretches. While many areas are forecast to stay dry, some showers of hail and snow will affect Atlantic coastal counties, but falling as rain near the coast.
Met Éireann says it’ll be “bitterly cold” over the weekend with “treacherous conditions” on the way.
Tomorrow is due to be generally dry with low winter sunshine and isolated wintry showers.
Frost and ice will linger in unsheltered areas, along with some patches of freezing fog.
Highest temperatures tomorrow will range between 0 to 4 degrees, dropping to as low as -5 tomorrow night.
Dense freezing fog is forecast for some areas tomorrow night, leading to impaired visibility.
Met Éireann says temperatures will struggle to rise above freezing with frost, ice and freezing fog persisting throughout the day.
Sunday night will see widespread frost and ice overnight with temperatures dropping as low as -6 degrees. There will be wintry showers of sleet and snow moving in towards the Atlantic coast.
Aylesbury park #Tallaght #sneachta #snow pic.twitter.com/H8lHddeXdQ
— Ronan Mooney (@MooneyRonan) December 8, 2022
Great to have so many reports of snow in Dublin and some coming in from Wicklow now. However I also have a lot of messages asking will it hit other areas. It is mainly Donegal, Dublin and Wicklow at risk but parts of Kildare also and a dusting could but further inland. https://t.co/07RA7pCfNj
— Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) December 8, 2022
Transport updates
Many flights ave been delayed at Dublin Airport this morning as a result of the cold weather, with knock-on effects expected throughout the day.
In a statement, daa media relations manager Graeme McQueen said that “while the runways and taxiways at Dublin Airport have been open and operational all day, some airlines experienced delays to their flight schedules due to de-icing their aircraft in the extremely cold weather this morning”.
“This has resulted in knock-on delays to flights later in the day,” McQueen said.
“Passengers are advised to check with their air
A number of Irish Rail services were impacted also this morning.
A number of other Dart services were cancelled this morning, with other trains running slightly delayed. However, Irish Rail has said delays have now eased on Dart and Commuter services.
Irish Rail is providing updates to cancelled and delayed services on its Twitter account.
Dublin Bus has said that services are experiencing “significant delays” due to bad weather conditions.
Route 44B is not in operation until further notice and Route 65 will not service Ballyknockan in both directions until further notice.
Luas earlier reported delays of up to 30 minutes on its Red and Green Line services. The Red Line service is running on time again.
Advice to motorists and pedestrians
The Road Safety Authority is asking motorists to be extra cautious on untreated road surfaces. A polished or glossy appearance on a road could signal black ice.
The RSA is advising drivers to:
For pedestrians, the RSA has advised:
Dublin City Council gritted over 300km of roads overnight, representing around a quarter of the city’s total road network.
10 crews were in place from 6pm yesterday carrying out the works, which targetted the main arterial routes in and out of the city.
Further advice
Charity Alone is urging older people to take extra care and keep themselves warm as temperatures drop and for people to check in on their neighbours.
CEO Seán Moynihan said that “following a drop in temperatures and a frost risk, we are advising older people to be prepared by ensuring they have adequate heat, medication and food at home. Many older people are often hesitant to reach out and ALONE want them to know that they should not be afraid to ask for support if needed.”
It is advising older people to be cautious of falls by limiting walking outdoors during icy conditions, wearing well fitted shoes, and ensuring that floors in their homes are clear from any trip hazards.
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has cautioned farmers, fishers and others working in rural areas to take extra safety precautions.
“Farmers should ensure that their yards are safe, firstly by tidying up to remove material which can cause trips or falls. All dripping taps, pipes and drainpipes should be repaired to avoid slippery patches of ice in the yard,” the minister said.
“It is important to plan early and attempt to address potential challenges before they arise. Create an inventory of what supplies you might need to keep your yard and farm safe such as salt for gritting as well as adequate feed stocks.
“As a starting point, it is important that all animals have free access to water. Supplies of drinking water should be checked daily, and surface ice broken on troughs twice per day. It is important that taps should not be left running to prevent freezing.”
Rough sleepers
Before the cold snap hit earlier this week, the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE) confirmed there will be a bed available to everyone who wants one in the coming weeks.
The DRHE makes additional beds available each winter through its cold weather strategy.
” The DRHE has arrangements in place for Extreme Weather across the Dublin Region. All emergency accommodation is provided on a 24 basis with meals. Extreme weather beds are provided by NGO partners on behalf of the DRHE,” a spokesperson said.
People are being encouraged to contact the DRHE for emergency beds early in the day on 1800 707 707.
The Peter McVerry Trust has said it has made over 100 additional bed spaces available for its winter and extreme weather response across Dublin, Kildare and Meath.
The charity has a further 66 extreme weather beds on standby across Dublin, Kildare and Meath.
“So far we have mobilised an additional 35 beds in Dublin, and we have a further 66 beds on standby across Dublin, Kildare and Meath and I am sure many of these will be used in the coming days due to the very low temperatures being experienced by people on the streets,” Peter McVerry Trust CEO Pat Doyle said.
“We have also extended the hours operated by our Housing First intake team in the Dublin region, with staff now out engaging people sleeping rough from 7am to midnight every day to try to encourage people into services and provide them with transport to get there,” Doyle said.
He said the charity has “learned hugely from previous responses such as the Beast from the East and Storm Emma”.
“We now have a set of services with additional extreme weather capacity on a permanent state of readiness, with all the required items needed to make the beds available within an hour of being called upon. This means regardless of it being an extreme weather event, a major incident, or an emergency leading to a closure of another hostel in the sector, we can readily respond and accommodate those in need,” he said.
Members of the public are being encouraged to download the DRHE’s rough sleeper app, which can be used to alert the Executive to where a rough sleeper may be in the Dublin region.
The app is available on Android and on iOS.
“If a member of the public spots someone and is worried about someone who is rough sleeping they can pin the location and our partners, Simon Outreach, will be out to them within an hour,” DRHE director Mary Hayes told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland earlier this week.
With reporting by Lauren Boland
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Anyone else tired of seeing so called “new” reports highlighting something that we have know for years?
Technology and the internet has allowed us to offload intelligence, therefore we are smarter as a society, but dumber as individuals. All you have to do for proof is look at Twitter. Tonnes of information, but even more dumb people.
Emotional intelligence due to the influx of IT is not on the up.
Like anything, it depends entirely on how it is used.
This is now going to be used as an excuse to not invest on school IT infrastructure and as always, we will throw out the baby with the bathwater.
“Technology and the internet has allowed us to offload intelligence”
Not really, it has just made rote learning even more pointless. If anything it’s the exam system that needs to be upgraded to take into account the reality of what work environments are going to be like in the future. Instead of focusing on rote learning, it should be focusing on critical thinking and analysis. Just having information available to you is meaningless if you don’t know what to do with it.
I think the dumb people are just more visible because they can express their opinions all over the internet
They appear every time the conversation turns to fluoride, vaccinations and gluten-free food.
…and then I had to go and misspell fluoride.
…except I didn’t.
Before widespread literacy people learnt things off by heart, a song or poem learnt by heart at one listening was not unusual.
Writing meant that we did not need to memorize everything.
Technology is changing how our mind works.
Our knowledge is being stored in the cloud rather than the brain.
In a way yes. They have information at the click of a button so no need to retain information. It is a good idea having tablets/laptops for school to an extent to reduce the load to be carried around. However, I find information doesn’t stick after reading it from a glarey computer screen. I don’t think it’s the computers making our children less intelligent but the parents who decide it’s OK to give their 6 year old a tablet for their birthday and a smartphone for Christmas. They spend most of their time then playing candy crush and following celebrity gossip with little time spent reading a book or wanting to know about the world around them.
Richard, you summed it up perfectly.
So what we’re really saying is teachers need to be better trained in the use of computers to support education.
Really hope this research isn’t appropriated by those teachers who take their dip and dodge further learning and training for as long as possible.
The teachers who show up for CPD in computers gain a raft of pedagogical training beyond just the tech stuff.
Any principal who invests heavily in devices and doesn’t have a comprehensive, supportive and ongoing CPD plan to support that investment is a fool. If you’re a parent who has been asked to shell out for a device, ask for the school’s e-learning plan, if it’s not up to snuff don’t bother spending your money. Devices teach nothing on their own.
And we won’t even mention how questionable PISA is at rating student achievement.
‘Any principal who invests heavily in devices …’
Most Irish schools (except those who can draw on wealthy parents) have clapped out computers that would be dumped out of most Irish homes. Neither do they have the back up technical support to support these. Imagine a small to medium sized company with 30-40 PCs and no budget for technical support, computer replacement etc? Welcome to the Irish school of 2015. No state funding for ICT in schools even though Kenny et al exhaust themselves talking about the smart economy etc. E-learning plan? Unlikely to mention that without Tesco coupons and bag packing, the school is unlikely to have even 10 year old computers.
Like my granny always said ‘everything in moderation’. Multiple studies on a myriad of topics to back that one up!
I’m not sure computers have made children less intelligent, after all there is a world of information available on the net if you are of a mind to seek it. What they can do is stifle imagination and the creativity that stems from it.
Such nonsense! Of course we’re more intelligent after we use computers, just look at the way tech-savvy people interact with the rest of the world and anyone who suggests that excessive computer usage leads to obesity, stupidity,bullying, de-socialisation,poor grammar, limited vocabulary etc etc is just nuts.
Dear God, isn’t it painfully obvious that too much IT use is bad for the individual on so many fronts? Do we really need the OECD to compile a report to convince us that this is the case?
It is and that was said a long time ago now, what seems to improve brain power was seen to be joined writing skills and reading, keyboards have a negative effect on the brain.
Wasn’t that the same Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that said today Ireland had to increase their property and water charges to be in line with the rest of Europe and cut the childrens allowance?
In Europe the property tax pays for a lot of stuff like bins etc, here it pays politicians to have big nights out… drinking and eating.
Does the OECD know this?
The report is correct but it was conducted in 2012 and focuses on computers. Tablets/1:1 mobile device programmes were only making their way into our education systems.
We (our school) have transformed the way we teach and learn by using technology in the classroom on an everyday basis. There are so many cogs in the wheel which need to be considered when making such a transition, most schools don’t consider everything that enables truly technology enhanced learning. Instead we are spending millions on hardware and basically nothing on CPD. I meet Principals regularly that decide to undertake the switch to iPads on behalf of parents, students and teachers, some of these Principals couldn’t tell you how to turn one on!
I believe we have made a good go of it but I have worked with many schools that just have little vision and rarely follow up on great ideas and plans. The department need to have some direction and provide structures for such huge changes. Look at what Finland are in the process of, a well thought digital learning system. A submission we made last year if anyone is interested on how we have implemented technology enhanced learning into our daily teaching and learning – https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8UtwutcB0j7Z3YtamJDMjBkRTQ/view?usp=sharing
Its simplybis all about what the kids are learning. When I was in school we did useless things and the teacher didn’t have a clue. early secondary schools need to learn programs like scratch to introduce programming logic and typing.com for correct typing technique. the only reason kids might seem less intelligent is because of the poor parenting that allows the kids to play browser games all evening. There is amazing applications that can expand the mind and teach great things. it’s the parents and teachers that must steer the kids rather than blame the computers. any parents: get your kids to try out scratch. You build your own games. Great fun for a younger audience.
bah my formatting was removed. whoops
Want to teach kiddywinks about tech, give them a raspberry pi and teach them how to code with it. They are inexpensive and about the size of a credit card. Slap a lightweight linux distro on there and let them mess with it.
And do what with it? You’re seriously over estimating the vast majority of students abilities and interest.
I think you’re underestimating small children’s interest in technology. A lot of countries are beginning to teach code at playschool level. Kids are a sponge for information at that age.
There are a lot of people on here who would rather a chisel and stone be brought back then advance in technology. Kids should be learning computers in school but more the programming and engineering side of it. It’s not all about the internet and games.
Boring.
A computer cannot tell you how to talk fluently to an in Italian in the Italian language.
You have to learn the Italian language for yourself.
Same with French.
Rosetta Stone?
Good recommendation to improve teachers knowledge of how to use technology in the classroom to support the best outcomes for students. Could do away with homework completely.
In answer to a previous comment re rote learning..In my opinion, there’s not a thing wrong with rote learning as a general learning/ teaching methodology..in fact it’s a necessary part of education and learning..you learn to spell by repetition, you learn the rules of spelling etc by practice (and then you can recognise that auto correct on your device is often auto incorrect)..you learn your times tables and are eventually able to do totting up in your head..you learn poems or lines of poetry, quotes from plays and are able to use those to support your answer in an exam, or use them to illustrate a point in a debate or conversation, an argument or row. You learn many things by rote.
That opinion notwithstanding, there are many students for whom rote learning, in its traditional sense, is not an option..therefore it’s only one of the learning skills used by teachers.
Helps with maths though. But playing games on it can deter from your studies. In my school we only use computers in fourth year for quite a few of our classes. Every other year only uses them like once a year maybe not at all
have your say