It’s a busy morning for shop staff after supermarket shelves across Ireland were reportedly left bare of essentials like bread and milk last night amid freezing temperatures and a snowy forecast.
In Cork this morning, supermarket staff and bread delivery workers were hard at work restocking after a busy evening of bread and milk sales. In Tesco Paul Street, some shelves of bread were wiped clear while the milk fridges were in need of replenishment.
Bread being restocked in Tesco, Cork city this morning
Milk fridges nearly cleared empty at Tesco, Cork city this morning
In Dunnes Stores, it was all hands on deck with a fully restocked bread corner and milk fridges ready for another wave of potential ‘panic buying.’
A lovely restacked section of bread at Dunnes Stores, Patrick Street
Meanwhile, Lidl in the city centre is closed. An awkward time for the budget supermarket, which many people without cars rely on for essentials, to shut for a refurb.
Shoppers have shared images of empty shelves reminiscent of the 2018 ‘Beast from the East’ as some shelves were emptied of basics, the Irish Mirror reports.
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Social media is awash with images of bare supermarket shelves, suggesting that panic buying is taking hold. Alan O’Reilly, of the popular Carlow Weather account, shared photos of a Tesco store devoid of bread and milk, commenting: “Ah lads.”
Others replied to the weather expert claiming they experienced similar issues tonight. One person shared a picture claiming to be from Lidl Rathfarnham at about 4 pm showing no milk left.
Another wrote: “Same in New Ross. No bread in Tesco or Aldi , shelves half of them bare. All panic buying again” while a third shared: “I went to the supermarket after work and the bread shelves were very similar there…….”
Someone else shared similar photos, saying: “Same in Tullamore too. Just nipped in around half 5 to grab a few bits because we’ve been sick all week so no shopping was done, couldn’t believe it the amount of empty shelves.”
Met Eireann forecasters are predicting heavy rain to turn to sleet and “significant snowfall accumulations” across Munster in the coming hours as Ireland’s deep freeze goes on.
It’s been a very frosty start to the year, and after a week plunged into the ice box, we can expect the Arctic blast to continue into late next week at least.
See the latest weather update here.
Accumulations of 5cm or more are likely to fall in 24 hours in parts, with freezing temperatures remaining “bitterly cold” over the coming days. While we’re on alert for snow this weekend, it’s next week when the mercury will really plummet – as low as -8 degrees by Tuesday night.