Travel chaos set to continue as fresh storm fronts loom
Across the regions yesterday snowfalls of as much as eight inches led to power and heating outages throughout entire towns, the complete closure of the country’s largest airport, frightening road accidents and serious transport delays.
And those who hope the freezing conditions — which have seen temperatures dip to as low as minus 17C in some parts of Sligo, Donegal and Tyrone — will thaw are set for more heartache, with the chaos expected to continue until at least St Stephen’s Day.
The worst problems were apparent at Dublin Airport, which was faced with almost an entire schedule of postponed flights and thousands of angry passengers — some of whom have been trying to leave Ireland for two days.
In the space of just a few hours yesterday afternoon up to six inches of snow fell on the facility — the equivalent of 90,000 tonnes of snow which needs to be cleared — grounding Aer Lingus, Ryanair and other flights.
A Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) spokesperson last night said the transport hub would be closed until at least 8am this morning.
Up to 400 would-be passengers slept overnight at the facility despite officials asking those at the site to leave due to worrying crowd levels.
Even world famous stars U2 were caught up in the chaos.
After completing their final gig in Australia over the weekend, Bono and the Edge planned to be relaxing at home with their families from the start of Christmas week.
However, after 36 hours of flights, delays and hassle, the pair yesterday morning gave up on their attempts to fly back to Dublin from Britain.
Instead, they rerouted on an early morning flight into Cork International Airport before boarding the 2.30pm train from the city’s Kent Station to Heuston Station — a trip which, ironically, included even more weather delays.
“It was certainly a pleasant surprise for the other passengers,” explained Iarnród Éireann spokesman Barry Kenny. “They were in there with everyone else,” he said.
Plummeting temperatures caused havoc to the rail system.
Freezing point signs and non-functioning toilet systems led to significant and uncomfortable delays for passengers leaving from Heuston Station throughout Tuesday, a situation which is likely to be repeated today.
Most rail journeys in affected areas are expected to suffer delays of 30-60 minutes over the next 24 hours as the rail service struggles to cope with conditions.
Iarnród Éireann has asked anyone seeking refunds or discounts as a result of the delays to contact their customer service centre on 1850 366222.
Similar difficulties are facing Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus, which are both operating scaled down services.
On Bere Island in west Cork a man in his 30s suffering from a serious back injury had to be brought by lifeboat to Bantry bay because the ambulance could not travel into the area, while two lorries jack-knifed on busy Dublin motorways.
Meanwhile, the ESB has confirmed that up to 1,000 people in the Wicklow town of Arklow were plunged into darkness for two hours between 5pm and 7pm yesterday after heavy snowfalls brought down electricity lines.
Forecasters are predicting the weather chaos will continue until at least St Stephen’s Day after a new front was reported to be heading towards Ireland.
Snow showers are expected in parts of Leinster and Munster today with daytime temperatures between minus 6C and 1C.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
