Updated: 16:50

MOTORISTS ARE WARNED TO take extra care on the roads due to hazardous driving conditions across the country.

AA Roadwatch says that black ice will continue to affect roads throughout this evening and night, and warns that motorists need to be extra careful as black ice appears invisible.

Drivers should also use fog lights where necessary, as freezing fog persists in parts of the midlands and east.

Gardai advise motorists not to travel on the N5 Westport to Swinford Road and the N26 Castlebar to Ballina Road due to black ice. Extreme caution is advised for all Sligo roads, and there is severe black ice on the N17 between Collooney and Charlestown. In Wicklow, the Sally Gap and Wicklow Gap are closed.

The Kinnitty-Mountrath Road should be avoided, say gardaí.

Travel updates will be posted throughout the day on the AA’s website.

Highest temperatures today were forecast to reach just 5 degrees, according to Met Éireann, and are expected to drop back down to as low as minus-9 degrees again tonight. Although wind will be light, it will be “bitterly cold” this evening and night, according to the weather service.

Gardaí are appealing to people to check up on elderly neighbours after the body of an 85-year-old man was discovered outside his house in Co Mayo yesterday. He is understood to have become the third elderly person to have died as a result of falling in the ice since the cold snap began.

Travel updates

Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports are all open and fully operational, but anyone due to travel to Spain today or tomorrow should check with their airline for delays due to the Spanish air traffic controllers strike earlier this weekend.

Bus Éireann has cancelled a number of its services, and there may be some delays and diversions on remaining routes. A list of affected services is available on its website.

Irish Rail is operating its regular services today, except for the M3 Parkway to Clonsilla route.

In Dublin, the Luas is operating a full Red Line service, apart from the Connolly stop, which remains closed. The Green Line is operating a full service.

Further updates on transport and travel in Ireland can be found on the Department of Transport’s site.