Thousands without water as pipes burst in milder weather

TENS OF thousands of householders across the State will be without water or face severe restrictions in flow for days as a result of burst pipes caused by the thaw and cuts to supply by local authorities.

A rapid increase in temperatures of up to 20 degrees between Christmas Day and yesterday was “exceptional” with many places having experienced record cold weather on December 25th and 26th, Met Éireann said.

Records were broken on Christmas Day at the Casement Aerodrome weather station in west Dublin where temperatures fell to –15 degrees, and at Shannon where temperatures fell to –11.2. On St Stephen’s Day, Dublin airport experienced a record low of –12.2 degrees.

Claremorris, Co Mayo, was at its coldest since 1969 at –15 degrees on Christmas Day, while Mullingar saw its lowest temperatures since 1979 at –14. Also on Christmas Day the Straide, Co Mayo climate station recorded a temperature of –17.5, one of the coldest temperatures yet recorded in the State.

Met Éireann forecaster Eoin Sherlock said the overnight change in the weather, with temperatures rising to double digits yesterday, was a rare event, but represented a return to normal seasonal temperatures.

“We have had exceptional weather, but once the cause of the extremely cold weather disappears – the arctic flow we had – the weather reverted to normal.”

It was exceptional to have such extreme changes in temperature in winter, he said, but such events did occur in summer. “It’s like the opposite of a heatwave, where temperatures can one day be around the 17-18 degree mark and then quickly rise to 27-28 degrees.”

For the foreseeable future a return to the severe cold was unlikely, Mr Sherlock said. Gardaí still advise caution when driving, particularly on local roads where melting snow is causing water pooling.

Temperatures will range between five and 10 degrees for the rest of the week with a dip on Saturday to about 4-7 degrees. However, early indications are for a return to 7-10 degrees on Sunday. The heavy rain should begin to clear tomorrow from the southwest and the rest of the week is set to be dry with just a few showers in coastal areas.

However, the thaw is causing widespread cracking of water mains, leading to a loss of supply across the country. In Dublin the cuts and restrictions to supply, which were imposed between 7pm and 7am before Christmas, are being extended to cover a period from 6pm to 9am. Large parts of Kildare and Wicklow, which are also supplied by the greater Dublin reservoirs, will also be subject to the shutdown. Cork city and county, Limerick, Sligo, Kilkenny, Laois, Kerry and Westmeath have also been badly affected.

Meanwhile, blizzards continue to disrupt travel along the northeastern coast of the United States. However, Aer Lingus flights bound for New York and Boston did take off from Dublin yesterday afternoon.