FRIDAY WEATHER UPDATE:

5pm

Orange weather warning for Westmeath, yellow alert for Roscommon.

The red weather warning has been removed from parts of the county.

Westmeath is now in status orange alert, until 9am in the morning. Orange warnings indicate that people in the affected areas should prepare.

Met Eireann said snow accumulations would continue to increase overnight in Westmeath, Munster, Carlow, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Offaly, Cavan, Monaghan and Galway

Snow accumulations continuing to increase due to further falls of snow.

The red weather warning remains for Dublin, Kildare, Wexlord, Wicklow and Meath. Met Eireann is forecasting snow accumulations will continue to increase significantly due to further heavy falls of snow until 9am tomorrow.

A status yellow alert, meaning the public in these areas should be aware, applies for scattered snow showers, applies until 9am to Roscommon, Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo

 

 

 

4.30pm

Main roads are now passable

Westmeath County Council said the National Primary (N4) and Secondary Roads (N51, N52, N55, N62) are now passable with extreme care.

The council said it had mobilised snowploughs and diggers from early this morning to clear snow drifts.

However, most regional and local roads are still impassable due to snow drifts and the council will continue to clear regional roads tomorrow morning. The council said main arteries in and around Mullingar and Athlone are passable and council crews, assisted by army personnel will be clearing footpaths in both towns from 8am tomorrow, Saturday.

Motorists are requested to take care due to the presence of pedestrians on roadways in urban areas and pedestrians are requested to wear high visibility clothing.

 

 

2.15pm

Westmeath County Council has appealed for the public's help in clearing footpaths and snowdrifts.

In a statement this afternoon, the council said 

Westmeath County Council is attempting to clear snow drifts from roads in the county, in order of priority, commencing with National Primary, Secondary and Regional routes and the main arteries around Mullingar and Athlone . Due to the scale of the snowfall and extent of drifting, the council is requesting assistance from the public with the following:

1. Clearing snow from footpaths in front of their premises in urban areas

2.  Clearing snow from roads and footpaths in housing estates

3.  People with equipment such as high-power tractors with loading shovels to assist in clearing snow drifts from local roads

People who assist are requested to clear snow safely and to avoid creating any additional hazards.

2pm

Met Eireann's forecast for tonight.

Tonight will continue very cold. There'll be further outbreaks of snow especially over the midlands, north and eastern counties, but it will be mostly of rain further south. Dry spells too. Minimum temperatures zero to -3 degrees coldest inland. A sharp frost and icy patches widely. Fresh east winds.

Meanwhile over in Offaly:

Here's personnel from the Offaly Fire and Rescue Services on the N52 between Tullamore and Durrow.

1pm

Bus Eireann has confirmed that it will not restart operations today.

In a statement, the company said no Bus Éireann services will operate for the remainder of Friday, March 2 due to ongoing severe weather conditions and extremely challenging road conditions.

This includes all city and town services, the Expressway intercity network, and Eurolines services to the UK.

The company said it anticipates resuming a level of services in some parts of the country tomorrow morning, dependent on the local road conditions.

It said it will aim to operate some services on the Expressway inter-city network, and possibly a level of regional city and town services, in less affected areas.

However, there will not be any kind of full service schedule tomorrow due to difficult and dangerous road conditions in many parts of the country.

 

12noon

Shop openings

Some readers have been in touch asking what local shops are open today. Let us know and we will add to the list.

We are aware that Walsh's on Connaught Street is open. Croughan's SuperValu on the Ballymahon Road in Athlone is open as is Spollen's Centra in Glasson.

Athlone Towncentre Shopping Centre, Golden Island Shopping Centre and Dunnes Stories in Irishtown are ALL closed.

 

11.45am

Athlone town centre traffic update

Main roads through Athlone town are in good condition, traffic is flowing freely. However, untreated side roads and local estate roads remain slippy, due to compacted snow turning to ice. Footpaths along the main thoroughfare are gritted but footpaths on smaller streets and side streets are tricky.

Here's the scene at the bridge at 11am.

 

11.30am

Did Storm Emma affect your area? Seemed to have passed much of this region by. Was it a storm in a teacup?

Let us know how your area got on last night.

Westmeath County Council this morning is warning that parts  of the county are severely impacted by drifting show which has made many roads impassable, in both urban and rural areas. The public are asked to avoid all travel and if you require emergency assistance, please call 999.

The Council has mobilised snowploughs and diggers to clear snow drifts and is concentrating on Priority 1 routes, being National Primary (N4) and Secondary Roads (N51, N52, N55, N62). However, many of these are currently impassable and will take some time to clear.

If you require assistance from Westmeath County Council please call the Council’s main telephone number: (044) 9332000.