We’re three days into a record-breaking snow storm… and it’s not going away yet.

Up to a metre of snow fell in some parts of the country overnight, with heavy accumulations reported throughout Cork city and county.

Met Eireann is forecasting further snowfall across Munster in strong and gusty winds, with the heaviest snowfall in the east.

Later in the day the snow may turn to rain or sleet near the south coast as temperatures creep up to between minus one and three degrees.

Cork is empty today #TheBeastFromTheEast #StormEmma pic.twitter.com/dL33A5DGkM

— Jack Fitzgerald (@fitzgerald_dee) March 2, 2018

As the ESB grapples with power outages across the country, including Kinsale, Met Eireann has lifted the blizzard warning, but the red alert remains in place until 6pm this evening.

The snow will continue overnight but snow showers on Saturday will gradually turn back to rain or sleet through the day with temperatures rising to between three and five degrees.

See counties affected by the orange and red warnings on the map: https://t.co/9BeK3UcAwO pic.twitter.com/sOxrwMALK2

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) March 2, 2018

Snow ploughs have been deployed across the city’s main routes, but Gardaí have warned motorists to stay off the roads as conditions locally are very poor, with treacherous driving conditions.

White blanket of snow covering #Cork this morning #StormEmma #besafe pic.twitter.com/rpnjgMy2qP

— Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) March 2, 2018

All Irish Rail and most Bus Éireann services are cancelled and there will be no flights arriving at or departing from Cork or Dublin airports until Saturday morning at earliest.

High tide passed this morning without serious incident but the City Council advises that the risk of tidal flooding in low-lying areas of the city will be greatest on Saturday morning (high tide at 6.30am).

If you’re in need of supplies you may need to wait a little little longer, all 130 Aldi stores will remain closed until 5pm this evening, with Lidl stores due to open their doors this afternoon, weather permitting. Meanwhile Tesco will reopen on Saturday and SuperValu stores are monitoring the situation.