THE first heavy snowfall of the winter in the early hours of Sunday morning last led to hazardous driving conditions for three days . . . and also drastically cut the odds on the arrival of a White Christmas.
Gardaí reported that there were no serious road accidents or injuries during the window of poor driving conditions from late on Saturday night last to Tuesday afternoon last.
The only serious road incident occurred on the M6 motorway near Ballinasloe in the early hours of Sunday morning when an articulated truck skidded off the road and ended up in a drain.
No other vehicle was involved in the accident that occurred between 4.30am and 5.30am and the driver of the truck was uninjured – however the M6 on either side of Ballinasloe was reduced to one lane either way for most of Sunday.
All of the main bookie chains cut their odds on the prospects of a White Christmas as punters speculated on the chances of a repeat of the big freeze-ups of 2009 and 2010.
However, by Wednesday morning, the thaw had cleared all remaining snow and ice from the roads, paths and fields around the county as daytime temperatures crept up into the high single figures bracket again.
So as it stands, Paddy Power are currently offering odds of 3/1 on a White Christmas in Dublin and Cork – to win your money at either of those locations, snow must fall at Dublin and Cork Airports on December 25.
There is still an outside chance of some snow at Christmas with the BBC’s long-term forecast for December and the New Year predicting that colder conditions will generally hold sway.
See full story – and loads of snowman pix – in this week’s Connacht Tribune!
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