Gardai come to driver's assistance after overnight snow in Slieve Blooms

It may be the first day of March, but some parts of Offaly looked like a winder wonderland this morning following snowfall overnight.

An Garda Siochana in Laois Offaly posted a photo on social media of a vehicle in the Slieve Bloom mountains which ran into difficulty this morning (Friday) due to the snow.

"Gardai in Mountrath assisted a driver, that didn't know the area, when GPS sent them up through the Slieve Blooms," stated the Garda post.

It added that the road from Kinnity to Killanure was "impassable due to heavy snow overnight".

Met Eireann currently has a yellow-level snow and ice warning in place for Offaly, Laois and a number of other counties until 6pm this evening.

An ice warning for all counties in Ireland will then come into effect at 6pm, and will continue until 9am on Saturday.

The forecasting service said the cold temperatures would bring "ice on untreated surfaces, leading to hazardous travelling conditions".

The cold and unsettled weather is expected to continue throughout the weekend and into next week.