Thousands of households are without water as snow and ice grips Ireland. And fresh weather warnings have been issued by the Met Éireann in the Republic while a similar warning for more snow and ice over the coming days has also been issued in the North.
Schools in several counties across the island closed on Tuesday as fresh snow arrived.
An orange weather warning for low temperatures was issued on Tuesday for counties Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow, Cavan, Monaghan as well as Munster and Connacht.
Uisce Éireann, the Republic’s water service, is working to restore supplies to homes and businesses in Cork, Limerick, Kerry, Tipperary and Dublin.
Ten thousand premises are also without power in the Republic, while the Gardaí are telling people to only make necessary journeys with black ice in many rural areas.
Thanking the Civil Defence teams for their work in recent days, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said: “This essential ongoing work has included assisting HSE staff in transporting palliative care and dialysis patients, helping Gardaí with vehicles stranded on roads; assistance to homes with no power or water; the transport of healthcare staff; and the provision of fuel for generators for vulnerable home care patients.
“Through their dedication, civil defence personnel have offered significant assistance to people in need during challenging weather conditions. We are fortunate to have the services of such professional, experienced and will personnel at such a demanding time for so many, especially the most vulnerable people in our communities.”
Freezing temperatures will continue until Thursday when they could drop as low as -7 centigrade. In the North people were bracing themselves for another drop in temperatures falling to -5 on Tuesday night.
Also, in Northern Ireland patients are waiting up to 12 hours in hospital emergency departments. As a result people are being urged to take up flu and Covid vaccinations to help ease the pressure on EDs.
Dr. Joanne McClean, Director of Public Health at the Public Health Agency (PHA), said since the beginning of December the number of people who have got flu has “grown quickly."
“Vaccination lowers your chances of having serious complications or dying from winter viruses. This is especially true for people who are at high risk of complications,” she said.
