I hear it’s unusually cold in Ireland these past weeks and that temperatures dropped to 15 below (celcius) last weekend. I’m interested to know if pipers in Ireland are experiencing problems with their pipes due to the unusually cold weather the country is experiencing (reeds cracking, loose mounts and ferrules, etc.).
New Years Eve I was playing in the Cobblestone. Everything loosened up. Had to place extra hemp on the drones & regs (both where they enter the stock and tuning slides, reg ends, etc. The stock fell out of the bag at one stage. All joints had contracted due to the cold / lack of humidity. I must remember to remove the extra hemp before the weather gets better in case it ends up cracking anything.
My 10 year old reed is not feeling the best either so I have temporarily swapped it for two others I play from time to time.
They should be glad they’re not here; I have -30 degrees Celsius/-22 degrees Fahrenheit outside right now (I live in northern Sweden) 
I’m glad my reed was made for this cliamte. I’d be screwed otherwise 
If you have trouble with your pipes in freezing weather, leave a trickle of cold water running overnight. Moving water won’t freeze.
I had no problems over Christmas and New Years.
Finland was -30C+
ouch
It only got down to minus 5 here in Kerry,but it was OK as I only play my pipes indoors where its warm .
RORY
If you have trouble with your pipes in freezing weather, leave a trickle of cold water running overnight. Moving water won’t freeze.
Not good for the wood and will definately wreck the reeds 
The biggest problem I find with my pipes in winters is not the cold because my pipes rarely leave my house in winter. The biggest problem is dry air caused by the central heating. However, controlling the humidity isn’t really a problem. Someone (Pat Sky?) once suggested keeping half an apple in the pipes case. I find that this works for me.
The other thing that helps is not fiddling with the reeds too much. When they’re dry, they’re more prone to cracking. When the weather improves, so will the reeds. I have to live with certain notes being out but as I don’t play out during the winter no one else has to suffer!!