Winter wonderland proves travel nightmare

SEVERE wintry weather is expected to continue over the weekend. And as temperatures remain close to freezing due to wind chill, forecasters say conditions are not likely to improve in the coming few days.

For a second day northern areas took the brunt of strong gales that brought Arctic conditions.

Met Éireann is forecasting bitterly cold conditions with gales and hail, sleet and snow showers.

AA Roadwatch urged motorists to exercise care.

There was traffic chaos in parts of Leinster, where heavy snowfall made driving conditions hazardous. The N7 between Naas and Newbridge, was badly affected, while black ice was reported in the coastal Laytown and Bettystown areas.

Sub-zero temperatures and a workers’ strike in Italy resulted in delays for passengers at Cork and Dublin airports yesterday.

At Cork Airport, three flights to Irish and British destinations suffered delays averaging two hours when the airport’s de-icing machine broke down.

The problems affected Aer Arann flights to Birmingham and Dublin and a Ryanair flight to Dublin scheduled for 9.15am.

Aer Lingus flights between Dublin and Rome were disrupted due to a general strike by Italy’s three main trade unions.

A spokesperson for the airline said its 7.20am service from Dublin to the Italian capital did not depart until 1pm, while the return service was not due back until 8.10pm.

Meanwhile Shannon Airport celebrated passenger numbers passing the three million mark for the year, the first time this has happened.

Laura Ahern from Cobh reached the milestone for a flight to Atlanta yesterday.

She was presented with return flights to New York from Delta Airlines and a €500 shopping voucher.

Elsewhere, rail passengers in Cork endured an 80-minute delay on a train leaving Kent Station for Mallow at 8am yesterday.

The train, which feeds into the Tralee to Dublin service, suffered a locomotive failure at Rathpeacon, causing passengers to miss their connection at Mallow.

“Customers affected by this breakdown are entitled to compensation, by submitting a letter and their ticket to Iarnród Eireann,” said business development manager Andrew Roche.