Is your county affected?
Schools in seven counties should not open on Friday (18 February) due to Storm Eunice, the Department of Education has advised.
This comes as Met Éireann forecasts that the storm will track quickly over Ireland on Thursday night and Friday morning.
The Department said that because of the “extreme nature” of Storm Eunice and the threat of “multi-hazard” weather events, it is advising that schools in counties where status red wind warnings and status orange snow warnings are in place should close.
A status red wind warning has been issued by Met Éireann for Cork and Kerry and will be valid from 3am to 8am on Friday.
Meanwhile, a status orange snow warning has been issued for Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo and will be in effect from 3am to 3pm the same day.
“Met Éireann has advised that this is a multi-hazard event with wind and heavy snow,” a Department of Education statement reads.
“Storm Eunice will bring heavy sleet and snow leading to blizzard-like conditions in parts with treacherous driving conditions.
“The storm is expected to impact most during school commuting hours and this will make journeys to school extremely hazardous in the morning in those areas.”
The Department said that remote teaching and learning should commence where possible.
“All other counties may open schools, subject to local conditions,” it added.
“All schools should keep up-to-date with the current weather warnings which are carried on all national and local news bulletins and in particular any change in the status warning for their area.”
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
