Arctic weather hits travel and festivities

ARCTIC conditions brought a cold finish to the national holiday weekend as biting winds caused disruption to some travel arrangements and festivities.

Stena Line’s ferry services between Dun Laoghaire and Holyhead were cancelled yesterday. Passengers booked on the same route today will be accommodated on the crossings from Dublin Port, as the forecasts indicated similar conditions continuing for the coming days. According to Met Éireann, the bitter north-westerly winds are likely to continue until tomorrow at least.

The unusual conditions brought sleet and snow to many parts of the country, particularly the northern half of Ireland.

In Co Down, action in the home side’s hurling league encounter with Cork was suspended because of the heavy snow at one stage in yesterday afternoon’s first half at Ballygalget.

A number of domestic Aer Arann services to and from Dublin and Cork Airports were also cancelled.

The heavy winds also contributed to the cancellation of last night’s National Lottery Skyfest in Dublin’s docklands, with the forecasts precluding it from being put back to tonight.

The fireworks spectacular was scheduled to begin at 7.30pm, but St Patrick’s Festival organisers announced the decision before lunchtime, after high winds and a one-metre swell on the River Liffey caused difficulties for teams setting up the display to access the barges used to rig the fireworks.

The safety advisers at the site measured gusts of up to 60 kilometres per hour, which were consistent with those experienced in most parts of the country at various parts of the day.

Cork City Fire Brigade responded to several reports about slates and debris being blown from tall buildings yesterday afternoon.

Firefighters inspected a number of premises on North Main Street, Oliver Plunkett Street and Washington Street, but no roads had to be sealed off.