Council crews on standby as snow expected in Galway

Galway City and County Council crews will be on standby tomorrow (Thursday), as a snow and ice warning comes into effect.

Met Éireann is predicting snow accumulations in Connacht will lead to hazardous conditions – a Yellow Status ice and snow warning will be in place from 8am Thursday until 8am Friday, with up to 5cm of snow in some areas, but later turning to rain.

The attached image from the BBC Weather Service is a prediction for snow over Galway at around 6pm Thursday.

Council crews and gritters will be on standby and prepared to deal with any adverse conditions that may arrive. Members of the public are advised to take all precautions necessary to stay safe.

A Galway City Council spokesperson said: “Many people will be working from home but those who do need to travel should exercise extra caution, whether they are driving, cycling or walking.

By taking some simple steps, we can all reduce the impact of such events and cope with them when they happen. A range of advice, tips and resources are available online to help to be as prepared as possible such as Be Winter Ready.

A few useful tips include:

• Ensure you have sufficient supplies of food and of any prescription medicine you may need.
• Have an adequate supply of fuel for heating
• Insulate water tanks and pipes and turn off water supply in vacant buildings, if possible
• Ask relatives and neighbours for help if you need it. Keep their phone numbers on a list beside your phone

The Galway City Community Call Helpline remains available to assist those who may not be able to leave home at the moment, with the delivery of essential supplies or other practical supports on 1800 400 150.

The community helpline number for the County Galway area is 1800 928894.