The area is considered unsafe for people inexperienced in the snow
'SNOW TOURISTS' have been warned to stay away from the Wicklow Mountains this weekend due to the potential for avalanches.
Quite a lot of snow still remains in the area after Storm Emma ravaged the Country last week.
Dublin/Wicklow Mountain Rescue spokesman John Kavanagh said people need to take a mature approach to the snow.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Kavanagh said: “There is an avalanche risk there. There is still quite a lot of snow on western and northern slopes. Because of the type of snow and direction that it came from, it tends to stick to structures on sheltered sides of hills and mountains. So there is a chance for it to build and it all has to come off at some stage.”
He went on to explain that excess snow may pose a problem for inexperienced people who are in the “wrong place at the wrong time”.
“What we’re advising is that people who are not skilled or experienced need to recognise the hazards. What we advise is for people to take a mature attitude and try to stay away. A lot of the roads are still blocked or down to a single lane. There are people who live in these mountainous regions so we’d ask that people be considerate of them.”
Temperatures are expected to increase in the coming days which, which will assist in ridding the snow from mountainous areas, according to Met Éireann.
