Thousands without water and power amid bitter weather across Ireland

Tens of thousands of homes and businesses in the Republic are without water and electricity amid a bitter cold snap across the whole island.

A yellow weather warning for ice is in place across Northern Ireland until 11am this morning with wintry showers expected in places.

The severe winter weather has led to the closure of some schools and some public transport restrictions as well as the cancellation of several healthcare services.

There are treacherous road conditions across the Republic, with broad sections of the island experiencing below-zero temperatures.

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The Irish Electricity Supply Board (ESB) said 41,000 homes and businesses remained without power on Monday morning, and warned it may take days to restore supply to all customers.

Irish water authority Uisce Éireann said a similar number of people were without access to water after heavy snow in the south-west region.

It said it would be working with the ESB to prioritise the restoration of power at water treatment plants and pumping stations, in the hope that services could be restored by Monday lunchtime.

However, both agencies said the snow and other treacherous road conditions are creating access difficulties for crews.

The Health Service Executive has cancelled clinical and non-urgent outpatient appointments in the worst-affected areas, along with breast screening services in the south-west.

The poor weather conditions also resulted in school closure announcements, particularly across Counties Carlow and Kilkenny.

Meanwhile, Bus Éireann informed customers that a range of routes in the south of the country have been halted.

While there had been some thawing of weekend snow on Monday morning, the bitterly cold conditions are expected to continue into the week with overnight temperatures dropping to a bitterly cold minus 8C in parts of the south in the coming days.

The cold arctic air is also predicted to bring further snow showers in some regions.

Met Éireann has issued a Status Yellow low temperature and ice warning for the entire country, predicting very cold nights with widespread frost and ice.

Temperatures will struggle to get above freezing during the day, the forecaster said, meaning there will be travel disruption amid icy patches and other hazardous travelling conditions.

The Yellow warning is in place until midday on Thursday but forecasters believe this may escalate to Orange level for some regions at points throughout the week.