‘Heed guidance’ as temperatures set to drop to minus eight again tonight
Many schools closed, business impacted, events cancelled
Sub zero temperatures overnight have led to icy roads, travel disruption and many school closures this morning; while a status orange weather warning has been extended for the region until tomorrow morning.
Many schools are closed right across the region, while others opened a little later.
Among schools closed are:
Bruskey NS
Carraigabruise NS
Crubany NS
Drumkilly NS
Gaelscoil Breifne
Killinkere NS
Killyconnan NS
Mullahoran NS
St Brigid's NS Tunnyduff
St Mary's NS Arva
St Mary's NS Crosserlough
St Mary's NS Drung
St Mary's NS Virginia
St Patrick's NS Corlough
Most secondary schools are open.
Some businesses have also delayed opening today. For example, Cavan Credit Union won't open its doors until 12 noon.
Many community event are also cancelled such as bingo in Shercock.
With temperatures set plunge to minus eight degrees again tonight, motorists and homeowners urged to heed warnings and advice.
Almost 5,000 kilometres of priority roads have been treated, using over 1,000 tonnes of salt, and with a total of around 440 staff hours dedicated to these efforts. They’re just some of the stats behind the effort of Cavan County Council’s Winter Maintenance Team who, from the start of the year have been deployed on multiple occasions to help ensure that roads across the county are safe for travel.
With Met Éireann predicting it could “turn even colder” later this week with temperatures dropping as low as -8C in some places, the council is urging motorists and home owners to “heed guidance” from both the national weather forecaster, the Road Safety Authority and others.
Cavan remains under a ‘Status Orange’ Low Temperature/Ice warning until 10am today (Wednesday); however that warning will kick back in at 6pm this evening until 11am tomorrow morning (Thursday).
A Status Yellow remaining in place for the entire country until 6am on Friday, January 10.
“Throughout this cold snap, Cavan County Council has actively participated in National Co-ordination Group meetings and maintained close contact with neighbouring counties to ensure effective collaboration. Snowploughs and other winter maintenance equipment were also prepared in advance and remain on standby for rapid deployment as conditions demand,” a council spokesperson said.
During significant weather events such as the current cold spell, the local authority’s Severe Weather Assessment Team has also been “actively managing” resource deployment to minimise disruption for road users.
When required, mini-salters are mobilised by municipal districts to target additional locations on the local road network.
Grit, meanwhile, has been made available at a number of locations for residents’ use in case of snow.
Details of grit locations can be obtained from local Municipal District offices, while the Council’s Winter Service Plan, including a map detailing salting routes, is available to view on www.cavancoco.ie/severe-weather
Further information is available from the Council’s severe weather webpage.
The Council also provides regular public updates on its social media channels regarding actions taken.
For more information on winter readiness, please refer to the Government’s ‘Be Winter Ready’ guide at: www.gov.ie/winterready
Weather in 2024
Meanwhile, 2024 was the driest year on record since 2010 at Ballyhaise, Co Cavan, with 874.6 mm of rain.
That’s according to Met Éireann’s Annual Climate Statement for 2024.
Annual mean wind speeds ranged from 5.9 knots (10.9 km/h) at Moore Park, Co Cork, to 14.9 knots (27.6 km/h) at Malin Head, Co Donegal.