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Counties Dublin, Kildare, Wexford, Wicklow and Meath remain covered by a status red warning for snow and ice, with snow accumulations forecast to increase as heavy falls continue on Friday evening and through the night.
An orange warning is in place for Munster and counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Offaly, Westmeath, Cavan, Monaghan and Galway. There, too, further snow accumulations are expected late on Friday and early on Saturday.
The warning is less severe for the rest of the country, with a status yellow alert applying to counties Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo.
All these latest warnings are in place until 9am on Saturday.
Power cuts
Some 34,000 homes, farms and businesses were without power this Friday evening. While ESB Networks said it had restored supply to 113,000 customers since the start of the storm, continuing snowfall caused new failures during Friday, especially in the Enniscorthy, Arklow, Portlaoise and Cork areas.
Beef editor Adam Woods said frozen water supplies into sheds was the main worry in his area of west Cavan after four to five inches of snow fell since Thursday. "Some finishers, that's all they're doing: trying to get water to animals that are on ad-lib meal," he said. Meanwhile, at Tullamore Farm in Co Offaly the priority was to move stock remaining outside to more sheltered paddocks.
In Co Tipperary, dairy specialist Aidan Brennan said the snow only started in earnest this Friday morning but was building up during the day. In Co Kildare, machinery testing specialist Alistair Chambers, too, escaped the heaviest snowfall – though straw baled only earlier this week was now blanketed in snow.
It was a completely different picture in Co Meath, where editor Justin McCarthy reported drifts of 10ft to 14ft blocking roads. One such blocked route leads to several dairy farms in his area: "It's obviously going to be a big job of work to get the Glanbia lorries in here to get the milk out," he said.
In Co Donegal, tillage reporter Stephen Robb said little snow had fallen, but severe frost has penetrated deep into the ground in exposed areas, posing a risk to the "800ac to 1,000ac of potatoes remaining to be dug out".
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Time to knock in to elderly neighbours
Storm Emma: milk collection and co-op stores latest
Storm Emma: list of factories, marts and events cancelled
Dairy calves: 'There is no doubt but further losses will follow'
What to look out for if the power goes and you need to use a generator
ESB advice: how to remain safe and what to do if you lose electricity
Coping with Storm Emma on Tullamore Farm
In pictures: contractors keeping rural Ireland on the move
Farmers with spare capacity called on to help neighbours
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