Ireland has upgraded its weather warning amid an “extremely cold” snap across the island.
Temperatures are expected to plummet to as low as minus 8C while a Status Orange low temperature and ice warning was announced for almost all of the Republic of Ireland.
Irish national weather agency Met Eireann said the advisory applies between 8pm on Tuesday and 10am on Wednesday, applying nationwide except for Donegal, Dublin, Louth and Wexford.
Weather warnings are continuing into Wednesday in some areas (Niall Carson/PA)
This will be followed by a further warning for every county except for Donegal between 6pm Wednesday and 11am Thursday.
It means that there will be extremely cold nights with widespread frost, ice and lying snow.
The measure comes on top of a Status Yellow low temperature and ice warning, applying to the entire country until 6am on Friday.
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The Electricity Supply Board said 10,000 of its customers were without power by 7am on Tuesday while thousands were without access to water.
Temperatures are expected to “struggle” to get above freezing during the day with transport disruption and hazardous travelling conditions.
A separate Yellow level warning for snow and ice for the entire country was due to expire at noon on Tuesday.
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Tuesday is set to have the highest temperatures of zero to 5C.
Met Eireann forecaster Andrew Doran-Sherlock said it will be “bitterly cold” overnight into Wednesday, adding that a few wintry showers will affect parts of the north and west.
The lowest temperatures are expected to be minus 8C to minus 3C generally, although it could dip even lower in some regions, with a severe frost and icy stretches.
A man clears snow from the pathway in the village of Ballylynan in County Laois (Niall Carson/PA)
The agency is also warning of the risk of freezing fog developing over the coming days.
Temperatures are predicted to increase through Thursday night and Friday as rain, sleet and snow moves north-eastwards over the country, becoming milder for the weekend.
The cold snap had seen tens of thousands of people without water and electricity, with crews continue to work to restore access to the services for the remaining affected homes and businesses on Tuesday.
The severe weather also prompted the Health Service Executive to cancel non-urgent appointments in the south-west of the country.
The Irish Defence Forces were deployed on Monday to assist with transporting patients and essential healthcare workers amid hazardous conditions.
Some public transport services have been curtailed and cancelled while schools in the worst-affected parts of the country also took the decision to close, with the situation being assessed on a morning-by-morning basis.
A Status Yellow snow and ice warning was put in place for Northern Ireland by the UK Met Office, expiring at 11am on Tuesday, and followed shortly after by a similar warning for between 3pm until midday on Wednesday.