Louth CoCo provide 'crisis management' update

Louth County Council say their crisis management are continuing to monitor the severe weather event this afternoon - adding their have applied 180 tonnes of salt and grit to roads and footpaths in the last 24 hours. 

"The crisis management team are monitoring the situation constantly and interacting with all relevant agencies in order to ensure all resources available are being deployed to maximum effect," they said. 

The local authority say an aggregate total of 1,632km of roads have been treated, involving four gritting vehicles and six ploughing vehicles. 

In Dundalk, the town centre is currently being ploughed while footpaths on Crowe Street, Clanbrassil Street, Long Walk and Park Street have been cleared and gritted. 

The pedestrian route from the town centre to the train station is being cleared and gritted, the council say, while Dundalk Ambulance Station and Hospital have been gritted and supplied with their own stock of salt. 

Meanwhile, village centres in Carlingford and Omeath have been gritted. Access to Dromad Garda Station has been treated. 

In Ardee, roads are passable with care and footpaths are being cleared and gritted. The gritting teams will be operating on an ongoing basis, the local authority also confirmed. 

The roads from Motorway Junction 12 to Dunleer are clear while the village centre is passavle, as is the R169 from Junction 12 to the N2 north of Collon. 

Blizzard like conditions will develop in heavy snow and strong easterly winds on Thursday evening, Met Éireann say and will continue Thursday night and Friday morning giving significant snow drifts in many areas. People are being asked to stay indoors between 4pm on Thursday and midday on Friday. 

5cm to 10cm of snow fell overnight and it is expected that 25cm could be on the ground in many areas by Thursday.