Donegal to sidestep the worst of Storm Goretti as snow and ice clears

Donegal is expected to avoid the worst of the inclement weather later this week after yellow weather warnings were issued for the south of the country as Storm Goretti approaches Ireland.

Met Éireann has said yellow snow and rain warnings for Cork, Kerry, Waterford and Wexford are expected to be in place from Thursday afternoon.

They have said there could be heavy rain, which will turn to sleet and snow in some places, particularly on high ground. The alert was issued on Wednesday morning and will be in place from midday to 8pm on Thursday

At the beginning of the week, Donegal was caught under a blanket of snow and ice as temperatures plunged below freezing.

The first yellow warning for snow and ice came into effect in Donegal on Friday evening last. Throughout the weekend, temperatures dropped across the county with Met Éireann warning of hazardous weather conditions.

The cold spell continued into Monday. Schools and childcare facilities were closed across the county on Monday due to heavy snow and ice, with some remaining closed on Tuesday. Donegal was placed under another yellow snow and ice warning from 11am on Monday until 9am on Tuesday.

Travel was disrupted as some bus services were cancelled due to treacherous road conditions. Roads were gritted across the county; however, some roads remained closed as gritters were unable to be deployed in some areas.

ATU Donegal announced that exams would go ahead at a later time on Monday, despite difficult travel conditions caused by snow and ice. Exams that were due to take place at 9:30am were moved to 11am and 3pm on the Letterkenny campus.

The decision to go ahead with exams was met with dismay by some students, with one student telling DonegalLive they had no way to get to Letterkenny and would be forced to sit their exam in August.

A student from near Laghey, who was due to travel to ATU Sligo, said: “Cars are not able to get up and down my road safely. I can’t get to the main road, never mind to Sligo. My bus wasn’t running yesterday [Sunday] so there is just no way for me to get to Letterkenny. It looks like the only option is to apply for a deferral, which means I have to sit the exam in August instead.”

READ NEXT: In pictures: Pets enjoying the snowfall across Donegal

More than 5,000 premises in south Donegal were without electricity as the area was hit by a significant power cut for a spell on Tuesday afternoon.

A road in the Twin Towns was closed on Tuesday with reports of cars going off the road due to icy conditions. The route in Stranorlar stretching from the bottling store to Kees Junction was closed off at Drumboe/Crumlish Brae, with local councillor Dakota Nic Mheanman warning road users to take alternative routes.

The worst of the weather was over by Wednesday as the ice started to clear and schools and businesses opened as usual.