Cold snap continues to bite as temperatures plummet to almost -6C overnight 

Plunging temperatures were also evident in Athenry, Belmullet, and Claremorris weather stations, with lows of -4.9C, -1.6C, and -2.7C recorded, respectively.

The overnight temperatures followed a status yellow low temperature and ice warning, which was in place for much of the country. The warning affected all of Munster and Connacht, as well as Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Offaly, and Westmeath. It was lifted at 11am on Wednesday. 

Wednesday, meanwhile, will continue to be cold with temperatures of 2C to 7C expected while tonight it will be mostly dry with a "good deal of cloud". 

There will be "some frost where there are breaks in the cloud" tonight with temperatures dropping back to lows of -2C, according to Met Éireann. 

Temperatures will get slightly warmer in the south on Thursday, reaching highs of 8C, with a largely dry day in store. There will be a good deal of cloud and "limited sunny spells".

However, a few patches "of light rain or drizzle will occur, mainly in southern areas".

Thursday night will be largely dry with a mixture of cloud and clear spells, Met Éireann says. Lowest temperatures of –2C to 3C are again expected, with some frost developing in places.

Friday will see more cloud, with "some patchy rain and drizzle, mainly for eastern and southern counties and then later in the northwest" expected. Saturday will be a brighter day with spells of sunshine in between "well scatted showers" while Sunday will be mostly cloudy "with a few patches of light rain and drizzle".

Temperatures across the weekend will range from 4C to 8C on Friday and Saturday to highs of 12C on Sunday.