A NUMBER of weather warnings remain in place this morning as Storm Fionn made its presence known across Ireland and parts of the UK last night.
High winds, snow and sleet battered a number of counties overnight, leaving around 2000 homes, farms and businesses without power in counties Cavan and Monaghan this morning.
Heavy snow fell in Northern Ireland, especially on areas of high ground, and over 140 schools across the north are closed today as a result.
Strong winds are expected throughout the day today and into this evening, with a status yellow warning in place for parts of Munster, Leinster and Galway from 6 pm this evening.
Heavy rain is expected too and may turn to sleet and snow in parts of the north.
AA Roadwatch and the Road Safety Authority are urging motorists to drive with care.
Meanwhile, in the UK, the onset of Storm Fionn was felt on the roads of Scotland, where a stretch of the busy M74 motorway was shut because of wintry conditions.
Hundreds of motorists spent the night stranded on the M74 in freezing weather as heavy snow and ice the storm brought the major route to a grinding halt.
Mountain rescue teams were brought in to check on drivers stuck in their vehicles after heavy snow showers hit the area throughout Tuesday night and into the early hours of Wednesday.
Conditions are expected to worsen today, with around 10 cm of snow expected to fall over higher ground above 200 metres, particularly in Scotland, with some low-lying areas seeing 2-5 cm.
Hail and lightning are also possible, mostly across northern and western Scotland.
Belfast and Edinburgh will be hit hardest with prolonged spells of snow as well as gale force winds drifting in throughout the evening.
Drivers took to Twitter to tell how they were trying to sleep in their cars after being stranded for more than 11 hours due to treacherous conditions that led to a number of crashes and jackknifed lorries.
@SkyNews been stuck on the m74 for nearly 5 hours now pic.twitter.com/pcCICMH6L7
— Andrew Ruse-Clark (@andrewruseclark) January 16, 2018
Not the planned quiet night I was hoping for. 5 hours of stationary traffic and I’m officially fed up!!! @trafficscotland #M74 pic.twitter.com/3IPyMgyIOd
— Scott Drury (@sdrury57) January 17, 2018
Evening @policescotland I’m currently building a snowman on the M74. Can you advise if I’ve enough time to finish it? pic.twitter.com/CxZ08Y0Sb1
— FergusMcCann 🇯🇵 バンネットマッカン (@BunnetMcCann) January 16, 2018
