A “DANGEROUS phase” of heavy snow forecast from tomorrow has forced the closure of all schools until next Thursday, and is putting authorities under increasing strain to keep main roads open.
The body co-ordinating the national response to the extreme weather met yesterday. Snowfall of up to 10cm is expected in places over the weekend as supplies of rock salt reach critical levels.
Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe yesterday announced the decision to close all 4,000 primary and post-primary schools for three days next week.
Gerald Fleming, head of forecasting at Met Éireann, said the country faced a situation not seen in 30 or 40 years.
The snow this weekend offered more “worrying possibilities”, especially for the east and southeast of the country, he said, following the meeting of the the National Emergency Response Committee.
“During Sunday afternoon and evening we come to another dangerous phase when we have another weather system coming in that could give us between 5cm and 10cm [of snow],” said Mr Fleming.
Even if the weather became milder, the rain would become ice when it fell because of sub-zero ground temperatures, he said.
The combination of heavy snows and quickly depleting rock salt supplies placed the country at “danger” and “at risk in the short term”, Minister for the Environment John Gormley and committee members said.
As matters stood last night, just over half the amount of salt required to de-ice roads nationally next week was likely to be available.
Experts estimate that between 15,000-20,000 tonnes are required to de-ice the roads next week. However, it is expected that the National Roads Authority will have sourced only 10,000 tonnes by Monday.
Yesterday, Mr Gormley and Michael Egan of the roads authority accepted that even if new supplies were identified abroad, it could take several days to import them.
The authority said that some local councils would be asked to conserve salt over the weekend to prioritise the de-icing of roads during the working week. The committee has asked county councils in affected areas to have their local co-ordination centres in operation on Sunday.
Mr O’Keeffe announced his decision to close all schools following the committee’s meeting. He said it was based on concerns for the health and safety of school children in “particularly exceptional circumstances”.
Some 80 per cent of schools remained closed earlier this week, but Mr O’Keeffe said he wanted to bring “clarity and certainty to the position”. The situation is to be reviewed on Tuesday.