Met Eireann has issued a Status Red severe weather warning for Storm Emma, with blizzard conditions expected that will result in significant accumulations of snow.
The Road Safety Authority says roadusers are being urged to stay indoors from 4pm today (Thursday) until 3pm tomorrow (Friday) and not to use the roads during this time period.
Road users are again being urged to check local weather and traffic updates before considering making a journey and to heed any advice being given by the National Emergency Coordination Committee, An Garda Síochána or Local Authority.
For more weather updates visit Met Eireann’s website www.met.ie
For a copy of the RSA’s ‘Top 10 tips for driving in snow or icy conditions’ click here.
For a copy of the RSA’s ‘Top 10 tips to avoid a fall or slip in snow or icy conditions’ click here.
For safety tips for Pedestrians, Cyclists and Motorcyclists using the roads in snow and icy conditions can be found here.
For advice on severe weather driving tips and weather updates, please see severe weather advice on the RSA website or check out the RSA Facebook and Twitter pages.
See advice on driving in ice or snow in our series of severe weather warning videos created in collaboration with Teresa Mannion.
Winter-ready:
The ‘Winter-ready’ booklet provides advice for householders and motorists on
preparing for and dealing with severe weather conditions. The booklets are
available in the County Sligo Branch Library network and can also be accessed
on-line at www.winterready.ie and www.housing.gov.ie
And in it you’ll find what the weather warnings actually mean:
Weather Warnings are presented in three categories:
YELLOW WARNING: Weather Alert – Be Aware:
The concept behind YELLOW level weather alerts is to notify those
who are at risk because of their location and/or activity, and to allow
them to take preventative action. It is implicit that YELLOW level
weather alerts are for weather conditions that do not pose an immediate
threat to the general population, but only to those exposed to risk
by nature of their location and/or activity.
ORANGE WARNING: Weather Warning – Be Prepared:
This category of ORANGE level weather warnings is for weather conditions
which have the capacity to impact significantly on people in the
affected areas. The issue of an Orange level weather warning implies
that all recipients in the affected areas should prepare themselves in an
appropriate way for the anticipated conditions.
STATUS RED: Severe Weather Warning – Take Action:
The issue of RED level severe weather warnings should be a comparatively
rare event and implies that recipients take action to protect themselves
and/or their properties; this could be by moving their families out
of the danger zone temporarily, by staying indoors or by other specific
actions aimed at mitigating the effects of the weather conditions.
You can get more details on Met Éireann’s weather alert, weather warning
and severe weather warning on www.met.ie which also has the latest
national and regional forecasts.
