Thousands without water and power amid bitter weather in Ireland

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 of Ireland, with broad sections of the island experiencing below-zero temperatures.

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 Eireann 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 as well as Limerick, Kerry, Tipperary and Cork.

Meanwhile, Bus Eireann 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.

National weather agency Met Eireann 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.

The UK Met Office, which issues warnings for Northern Ireland, said the region will see icy stretches developing during the early hours of Monday, bringing some disruption, especially to travel.

A Yellow warning for ice across Northern Ireland was due to expire at 11am.