Ireland weather: Cold snap claims sporting casualty as warnings in place
Several snow-ice warnings are in place as temperatures plummet across the island of Ireland
Saturday's meeting at Cork has fallen to the cold weather, with the scheduled seven-race card abandoned due to a frozen track.
IHRB Clerk of the course Val O'Connell gave the following update on Saturday morning: "Following another night of frost unfortunately the track at Cork is unfit for racing following our inspection this morning due to parts of the track being frozen.
"Temperatures got to minus two again overnight and remain below freezing at present and without there being a sufficient rise in temperatures prior to our first race at 12.30pm, we have no option but to cancel the fixture.
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"The team at Cork Racecourse will liaise with Horse Racing Ireland about a date for rescheduling this meeting in due course."
An inspection is scheduled at Naas for 7.30am on Sunday ahead of the day's seven-race card, which includes both the Grade 1 Lawlor's Of Naas Novice Hurdle and the Grade 2 Racing Post Novice Chase.
Several snow-ice warnings have been issued as temperatures plummet across the island of Ireland this weekend.
An orange-level snow-ice warning in place for counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Wicklow, Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary for 24 hours from 5pm on Saturday.
Significant snowfall accumulations are expected in these areas, forecasters at Met Eireann said, creating difficult travelling conditions and poor visibility.
A status yellow snow-ice warning is in place for all counties in Leinster and Connacht, as well as Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, and Waterford for 24 hours from 5pm on Saturday.
A status yellow rain and snow warning is in place for Cork and Kerry from 1pm on Saturday and will upgrade to an orange-level alert from 5pm on Saturday until 5pm on Sunday.
Forecasters have said that depending on snow accumulations on Monday, schools could remain closed as the sub-zero temperatures stretch into next week.
A status yellow ice warning is in place across Northern Ireland, bar counties Fermanagh and Armagh, from 4pm on Friday until 10am on Saturday.
A Met Office alert for icy surfaces is in force until 10am on Saturday, which it said could lead to difficult travel conditions and injuries from slips and falls.
People are being urged to take care on the roads during the cold snap and to check in on elderly and vulnerable people.
Meanwhile, Saturday's meetings at Sandown and Wincanton in the UK were also abandoned due to frozen tracks.
A forecast combination of frost and even fog had given Sandown officials cause for concern on Friday, leaving clerk of the course Andrew Cooper to announce a precautionary 7.30am inspection.
With temperatures minus 2C since midnight and still minus 2C around inspection time and not expected to be above freezing until 11am, an early decision was able to made with the course frozen in places.
At Wincanton, an inspection was brought forward after temperatures fell to minus 4.2C overnight, leaving the Somerset track frozen in places and unraceable.
Newcastle’s jumps card scheduled for today was abandoned on Friday, leaving a blank day of National Hunt action in Britain.
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