Attempts were being made last night to rescue four passengers from a ferry after it began to list heavily in force 10 winds off the coast of Lancashire in the Irish Sea.
However, the 19 crew of the ferry, the Riverdance,which was travelling from Warrenpoint, Co Down, was expected to remain on board for the time being.
The emergency operation involved two helicopters from the RAF and one from the Dublin coastguard, as well as two RNLI lifeboats. Liverpool coastguard last night confirmed it had received a mayday from the ferry which reported a 60 degree list after cargo shifted on board.
While the list was later reduced to 20 degrees, weather conditions were said to be severe at the scene, with winds of up to force 10.
Meanwhile, attempts to refloat the stranded RNLI lifeboat the Katie Hannon, which ran onto rocks on Tuesday while attempting to rescue the crew of an inflatable boat, were put on hold as the vessel was pounded by strong waves on rocks off Rathlin Island.
The RNLI had been hoping to use buoyancy bags to lift the lifeboat off the rocks, but wind gusts of 130km/h recorded at nearby Malin Head meant that such efforts had to be abandoned.
Elsewhere yesterday, all fastferry services from Dublin were cancelled, with Irish Ferries saying that the three daily crossings of its fast ferry would be suspended until winds died down.
The winds were expected to worsen last night, with south to southwest winds of 130km/h expected in exposed areas of Ulster and Connacht, making already "bitterly cold" temperatures feel even colder, said Met Éireann.