Temperatures are below freezing for much of the country this afternoon, as the cold snap continues.

A Status Yellow warning for low temperature and ice remains in place which will be upgraded to Orange this evening for Munster, Connacht, Leinster, Cavan and Monaghan.

Munster is set to be the coldest area of the country tonight with temperatures of -7C forecast.

Temperatures in County Tipperary were amongst the lowest in the country overnight with -5.7C recorded at the Gurteen weather station in the north of the county.

Most main roads were fine this morning after being gritted several times by the county council but footpaths in many villages and towns were treacherous.

Footpaths are so bad in Clonmel that people are having to walk on the road.

Locals I’ve spoke to are asking why Tipperary Co.Council haven’t cleared the footpaths in the town @NewstalkFM pic.twitter.com/IAmVBOAnuh

— Barry Whyte (@BarryWhyte85) January 8, 2025

People in Clonmel have said the paths were like an ice rink this morning.

“At the post office here in Upper Irishtown, there's loads of people, elderly people, after falling going in there,” one woman said.

“I heard the ladies after ringing the council to come up and put down salt and you might as well talk to yourself - no one came up.”

Another woman said: “If it wasn't for people and businesses here in the town, there'd be nothing done.

“If people get severely damaged, who do they go to? It's the council's duty to make sure that people are safe.”

4,000 homes without power

4,000 homes remain without power for a fourth day – mainly in Kerry, Limerick, Cork and Tipperary.

In a statement, ESB Networks confirmed that in the interest of customer welfare, customers who are still without power in the worst impacted areas of Limerick and Tipperary have been contacted to avail of facilities in local hotels.

Customers will be welcomed into these hotels to refresh, eat a hot meal and recharge phones both today and tomorrow.

“To avail of this service, customers will need to provide the service provider with their MPRN number,” the statement said.

“Customers’ MPRN numbers can be found on their electricity bills, starting with one zero.”

Facilities will be available at the following locations:

• Longcourt Hotel (St. Mary’s Road, Newcastlewest, V42 TD72) - from 12pm to 8pm
• Leens Hotel (Main street, Abbeyfeale, V94 PW84) - from 12pm to 6pm
• Charleville Park Hotel (Limerick Rd, Rathgoggan North, Charleville, Co. Cork, P56 V268) - from 12pm to 6pm.
• Horse and Jockey Hotel (Horse and Jockey, Thurles, E41 AP86) - from 12pm to 6pm.

4,500 properties have no water with Uisce Eireann warning up to 24,000 are at risk if water mains burst.

School closures

Some schools remain shut in the worst affected areas of the country, with the decision to close an individual choice.

A man and woman who operate a bus service bring children with disabilities to school in rural Kildare have said it’s too dangerous to bring children to school at the moment.

“It’s just dangerous in some of the estates because you're loading wheelchairs from ice, you know,” they said.

Cold weather positivity

As the weather warnings continue, the goodness in Irish people is emerging.

A group of jeep enthusiasts across Cork and Kerry are helping frontline staff make it to work during the bad weather.

Chairperson of the Southern 4-by-4 Response group Conor O'Neill said that some of their volunteers are driving up to five hours per day.

“Most people, they have a good work ethic and in normal times they can be little bit stressed about getting to work on time and dealing with traffic and so on,” he said.

“This is just a whole different level, you know, [it] puts all services under pressure when they can't get staff in to take over shift, so they're very appreciative of what we're doing.”

Weather in Charleville, Cork. 07/01/2025 Image: Newstalk

As deliveries resume to some of the worst affected parts of the country An Post said its staff will check in on customers who are living alone or in isolated areas.

An Post’s Head of Corporate Communications Anna McHugh said the outreach by staff is part of the trusted local service.

“Many of our staff do it anyway, right around the country, and are pleased to do so,” she said.

“It's something we did during the pandemic, and it's something that's within our gift.

“We're not able to provide medical assistance or other domestic help but we can certainly just check in when we get into back into areas that we haven't been able to access.”

The cold snap is set to continue until Friday at least.

Main image: Snow covered hills in the Leighlinbridge area south of Carlow town. 07/01/2025 Photograph: © RollingNews.ie