Heavy snowfalls across many areas of the country have caused serious disruption to road, rail and air travel today.
Dublin airport has reopened this evening after being shut for much of the day due to snowbound runways. However, there are major delays and disruption at the airport due to cancelled flights and passengers attempting to return to Dublin.
Heavy snow showers over the past few hours also resulted in a drastic deterioration of driving conditions on roads in Dublin, Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Wicklow and Wexford.
Dublin Bus suspended services earlier today, attempted to resume them this evening, and then cancelled them for the night. The company says it hopes to restart services tomorrow after overnight gritting. Some Bus Éireann routes in Leinster suffered serious delays today.
AA Roadwatch advised motorists to avoid any unnecessary journeys due to the frequent heavy snow showers. On many dual carriageways or motorways only the left lane is being gritted so drivers are urged to take extreme care in the right lane.
Motorists have been to take extreme care on all routes, particularly on secondary roads, in sheltered areas and in housing estates. Drivers are urged to maintain a good distance between vehicles as braking distances increase in icy conditions.
The Department of Social & Family Affairs tonight said the bad weather would delay cheque payments for Social Welfare recipients.
Almost 27,000 Social Welfare customers were due to get a weekly payment by cheque tomorrow, but An Post staff were unable to collect the cheques from the departments’ Dublin centre today.
Management in both organisations will assess the situation tomorrow, and those experiencing financial difficulty are advised to contact their community welfare officer.
Most national road temperatures were well below minus today and Met Éireann forecaster Vincent O’Shea said there was no sign of an improvement in weather conditions in the next 10 days, with temperatures were expected to drop further.
Temperatures will remain very low, with highs of zero to four degrees forecast. Temperatures are expected to fall to -5 or -6.6C in the coming nights but could be as low as -8 to -10 in midland areas. “There will be no chance of a thaw in the daylight hours,” Mr O’Shea said.
The Dublin and Wicklow mountains are said to be particularly badly hit, with the road between Roundwood and Kilmacanogue now impassable due to snow drifts. Motorists are urged to avoid the Wicklow Gap, Sally Gap, Glencree and Delgany. AA Roadwatch has warned of poor conditions around Ashford, Arklow, Wexford, Bunclody, Gorey, Carnew and Rathdrum.
In Dublin, conditions in the south of the city and county were extremely difficult today. Conditions also deteriorated on the M50 in both directions between J10 Ballymount and J14 Leopardstown.
In Donegal, motorists are advised to avoid unnecessary journeys due to freezing temperatures and icy conditions. In Cork, roads are very icy around Bantry, particularly on the Drimoleague Road and around Glengariff.
In Meath, the N51 between Navan and Slane, the N2 Slane to Ashbourne road and the Dunshaughlin to Ratoath road are reported to be treacherous.
Red Line Luas services are running from Tallaght to Connolly with reduced frequency. Green Line services are not affected.
Bus Éireann services are continuing to operate around the country, although there are serious delays in some parts of Leinster. Irish Rail services are experiencing some minor delays at Connolly station but there is no major disruption to the services as yet.
Aer Lingus flights to the UK and Europe from Dublin were also cancelled, and passengers are advised to check the Aer Lingus website for updates. An estimated 50 inbound and outbound flights were cancelled in total.
All intending air passengers are advised to check with their airline or airline website for an update on their individual flight before travelling to the airport.
One of the busiest airports in the UK, Gatwick in west Sussex, was shut with more than 240 flights cancelled. Budget airline easyJet had to cancel more than 250 flights and other carriers were hit by the closure of a number of other airports including Stansted, Cardiff, Bristol, Southampton and Exeter.
Dublin Port remains fully operational, with all ship movements this evening unaffected by the weather.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) said today emergency wards have been particularly busy in the last few weeks dealing with sprains and fractures as a result of slips and falls on icy roads and footpaths.