Snow causes chaos across county

 

Two 'Yellow' status weather warnings in a single weekend- torrential rain followed by heavy snow fall- has caused chaos across much of the county, with treacherous driving conditions, and traffic and school disruptions.

There are reports of National Schools and crèche closures in the Ballyjamesduff and Cavan Town areas, as well in Crosserlough, Kilnaleck, Castletara, Redhills, Laragh/ Stradone, Butlersbridge, Bunnoe/ Lisboduff, Crubany, Farnham, and Ballyhaise.

The decision taken to close schools due to the adverse weather conditions is taken by each individual Board of Management, and parents of children attending received notifications of closures earlier this morning.

Most secondary schools in the region are prsently closed for Mid-Term.

It follows an alert issued by national bus service Bus Eireann earlier this morning providing notification of several service cancellations in the South East and East of the county, predominantly linking the towns of Bailieborough and Ballyjamesduff with Oldcastle and Kells in North Co Meath.

Met Eireann issued two warnings for the region at the start of the weekend, with significant downpours which led to spot flooding and difficult driving conditions on Saturday last. The torrential rainfall also led to the cancellation of the Cavan-Meath match at Cavan's Breffni Park, with a replay date yet to be decided upon.

The cold-snap set in on Saturday night into Sunday, with accumulations of snowfall of up to 4cm in some places. Road staff at Cavan County Council were on hand salting and gritting more than 500km of roadway.

The national weather service today has warned of cold and frosty weather in some areas this morning, particularly where there is still snow on the ground.

Aside from being a bright day, there will be scattered wintry showers during the morning but these too will die out in the afternoon, but gardai are still warning motorists and pedestrians to remain cautious when travelling.

Rain will meanwhile move eastwards overnight, turning heavy and falling as sleet and snow, especially on higher ground, where lowest temperatures will reach -2 to +1 degrees.