Storm Emma is busy leaving her mark across the country.
Temperatures are struggling to rise above zero degrees, heavy snow has fallen over much of Leinster and Munster and strong winds are bringing with them a nasty wind chill factor.
Tom Begley is on Snow Patrol for @FERGDARCY and sent him this update from Kilkenny.
Time to go home is right Tom!
#snowpatrol pic.twitter.com/F5zjFmxctX
— SnowDay FM (@TodayFM) February 28, 2018
The Taoiseach has been warning everyone to remain indoors after 3pm this afternoon, Thursday, as a red weather warning remains in place for all of Ireland.
So as we all huddle up inside and settle down for days of Netflix binges and copious amounts of tea (and bread) mammies the length and breadth of the country must be going out of their minds at the thought of how much all of this is going to cost heating-wise.
Most of us can't bare the thought of leaving the immersion on accidentally overnight, so how are we to cope with having the heating on 24/7?
The total cost is actually not that bad, but you might want to start planning in for a bigger-than-usual electricity and gas bill at the end of the month.
It costs an average of €964 to heat a house with gas for a year.
If we break that down daily you're looking at a cost of €2.70.
Now that's for average use, and nothing about this unseasonably cold weather front has been average.
So at the very least nearly double your daily average cost to €5 but to be on the safe side allow yourself an extra few bob on top of that and you're left with a heating cost of around €6 per day.
Now on to power and how much this could set you back.
The average three bedroomed household spends €1,200 per year on electricity, which works out at €3.29 per day.
However, with everybody snowed in at home using power points and lights, we can safely assume it will cost more than that over the coming days.
Again double it and allow some wiggle room and you are left with a daily cost of around €7 per day.
The government is offering an extra week of fuel allowance to those entitled to the €22.50 weekly welfare payment during the winter months.
Wherever you'll be over the coming days, the advice is to keep safe, mind each other and check on elderly neighbours when it's safe to do so.
Spread the word â¬‡ï¸ #BeastFromTheEast pic.twitter.com/FkrNONOjx8
— SnowDay FM (@TodayFM) March 1, 2018
