A man has been arrested in connection with a road crash that killed one woman and left two others seriously injured in West Cork last night.

It is understood a car crashed into the women as they were walking home in the village of Ballingeary at around 1:10am.

The woman in her 50s was pronounced dead at the scene while two others, both aged in their 40s, were transferred to Cork University Hospital.

Their injuries are described as serious but not life-threatening.

This afternoon, a Garda spokesperson said investigators arrested a man in his 40s at the scene.

He is being held at Bandon Garda station.

Cold weather

On The Pat Kenny Show this morning, Irish Independent Southern Correspondent Ralph Riegel said the road is still closed while gardaí carry out a forensic investigation.

“At this stage, Gardaí say they don’t know precisely what is involved but certainly one element of what they will be looking at is whether road conditions played any part in this,” he said.

“Of course, parts of Cork have been quite impacted by this Arctic blast we have been having and temperatures in some parts of West Cork have fallen as low as -4C with ice and frost a significant factor in some areas.”

"Deeply shocked"

He said people in the area are “deeply shocked” following the tragedy.

“We understand the ladies involved were returning home from a social gathering,” he said.

“You have all the Christmas lights on, everyone is anticipating Christmas and to have an appalling tragedy like this literally right on the main street of the village.”

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to the crash and are particularly interested n talking to anyone who may have camera footage.

Diversions are in place while the road remains closed.