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Monday's Travel and Weather Updates

Sligo - Snow blankets the country
Sligo - Snow blankets the country

• Record Dec temperatures of -17c recorded overnight
• Dublin Airport suspends all flights
• Cork and Shannon airports operating normally
• Iarnród Éireann services operating normally
• Bus Éireann services curtailed in east & northeast
• Dublin Bus operating with restrictions
• Overnight water restrictions in Dublin area

2250 Gardaí have described the traffic chaos in some parts of south Dublin as 'mayhem'.

The area of Dundrum has been badly hit with traffic remaining at a standstill there this evening.

Many cars have been unable to get up the road onto the M50, which is causing congestion. People have been abandoning their cars and others are helping push vehicles up the hill.

2235 Bus Éireann has cancelled some late night and early morning services into and out of Dublin and there are delays of up to an hour on some routes.

Cancelled services include the Dublin to Cavan at 10.30pm, the Dublin to Newbridge at 10pm and Dublin to Athboy at 9.30pm.

Dublin to Rosslare 1am and 3am are cancelled.

All Dublin to Belfast services cancelled overnight until at least 5am.

Also delays in the northwest.

Delays on all services into and out of Dublin of between 30 minutes and one hour. Worst affected are the Dundalk/Drogheda to Dublin routes.

2220 Iarnród Éireann says tomorow M3 Parkway trains will continue to run to/from Connolly instead of Docklands

2210 Nine News available online in case you were stuck in traffic struggling to get home

2116 Tonight's P&O departure from Dublin to Liverpool is re-scheduled to 2230 in order to accomodate as many customers as possible caught in current weather and traffic conditions.

2109 Flights from Dublin Airport are not expected to resume before 2300 because of continuous heavy snowfalls this evening.

Passengers are advised to consult their airline or airline's website BEFORE travelling to the airport.

2018 Dublin Bus will not operate its NiteLink service tonight.

It says it will be making every effort possible to operate a full bus service tomorrow morning but this will be dependent on weather and road conditions.

2012 Iarnród Éireann says delays to evening Westport trains up to 60 minutes, clearing points at Castlerea.

2008 In the Phoenix Park, Parkgate Street, Castleknock Gate, Cabra Gate & Ashtown Gate are the only gates OPEN due to the bad weather, according to AARoadwatch.

1947 AARoadwatch is reporting that long delays are continuing for motorists on major routes in Dublin city. Tailbacks are reported on the N11, Rock Road and M1. A number of vehicles have been abandoned on the M50 northbound at Junction 13 - Ballinteer.

1942 Iarnród Éireann says the 1900 Enterprise Connolly to Central is 53 mins delayed.

1938 It has started snowing in northwest and west Donegal, in the Gweedore and Rosses areas.

Care is advised as many of the roads have not been treated since early morning.

1919 Traffic is awful across Dublin city - colleague left at 4.30pm and has only made it about half a mile in almost three hours!

1907 Gardaí say the port tunnel in now closed in both directions.

1841 Recent snowfalls around Dublin are resulting in long delays on number of routes including N11, N1, M1 & M50.

1831 AA Roadwatch says heavy snow is causing delays on parts of the M50 in Dublin - and visibility on the higher parts of the motorway is described as extremely poor.

1806 In the UK, The BAA says a maximum one-third of flights are likely to operate from Heathrow during until Christmas Eve.

'Passengers should not travel to Heathrow without a confirmed booking.'

The British government has decided to permit extra flights throughout the night at Heathrow.

1756 All flights at Dublin Airport have been suspended due to heavy snowfall.

Flights expected to resume at 2130

1745 Red Line Luas services in Dublin are only operating between Tallaght and Smithfield because of an incident at Abbey Street.

Heavy snowfall means the Green Line Luas is running from St Stephen's Green to Sandyford only.

Tickets are valid on Dublin Bus.

1734 Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports remain fully operational with snow and ice crews on standby should weather conditions deteriorate throughout the evening.

However all airports are warning that adverse weather conditions at some UK and European airport are causing disruption to flights.

Passengers should consult with their airline's website before travelling to the airport.

1723 AA Roadwatch Update:

ULSTER

Monaghan: Fog around Monaghan Town and secondary roads are very icy. Use fog lights in affected areas.

Donegal: Treacherous conditions remain around Glenties. Avoid Barnesmore Gap and Meenroy on the Letterkenny/Fintown Rd (R250). Very icy on N14 Lifford/Letterkenny Rd, particularly at Lurgybrack. Very icy around Ballybofey on the N13 Letterkenny Rd, the N15 Donegal Rd and the Lifford Rd. * Poor driving conditions between Carndonagh and Buncrana (R244, R238).

CONNACHT

Galway: Very heavy in Galway City, particularly both ways on Lough Atalia, on the Headford Rd by the shopping centers and on all approaches to the Moneenageisha Jct. It’s also heavy westbound on the Quincentennial Bridge and outbound on the N17 Tuam Rd through Claregalway.

Still very icy in Clifden, particularly on the N59 Clifden/Westport Rd & Maam Valley Rd. Hazardous due compacted snow on the Clifden/ Ballyconneely Rd (R341).

Leitrim: Freezing fog and extremely icy conditions around Carrick-on-Shannon.

Sligo: Large vehicles should avoid main street, Collooney due to ice and are advised to stay on the N4 and N17. * Sligo town streets are clear but Connaughton Rd car park and the Mall car park are closed.

Mayo: Extremely icy on the N5 at Charlestown, Castlebar and Westport as well as Bohola and Ballyvary.

Rocommon: All secondary routes are icy around Boyle and also on the Frenchpark Rd (R361) and the N61/Roscommon Rd.

MUNSTER

Limerick: Icy around Newcastle West on the N21 Abbeyfeale Rd, the Drumcollogher Rd (R519), and on the Bruff Line, Kilmallock Rd.

Cork: Icy in Mallow town and on the N73/Mitchelstown Rd and N72 Killavullen Rd. HGV’s should avoid the hill on the N72 Mallow/Fermoy Rd outside Mallow at Olivers Cross. In Cork City traffic is moving well at present. it's icy on Maryborough Hill, Carr’s Hill and Mount Oval. Kennedy Quay has reopened.

Very icy on the M8 from Watergrasshill south to the Jack Lynch Tunnel. Icy on the Cloheen/Blarney Rd; HGV’s should avoid Faggot Hill. Very icy on N25 at the on/off ramps for Carrigtwohill and Cobh. In West Cork, very icy on N22/Macroom/Killarney Rd.

Kerry: Conor Pass is closed.

Clare: The Kilmihil/Cree Rd (R484) is closed.

LEINSTER

Wicklow: Avoid Kilgarron Hill, Enniskerry, Wicklow Gap and Sally Gap. Care needed between Ballyknockan and Lackan.

Westmeath: Icy on the Mullingar/Castlepollard Rd (R394).

Offaly: Main roads are clear but there is some fog around Birr. Avoid the N61 Kinnitty/Mountrath Rd.

Longford: Very icy on Granard/Castlepollard Rd. * N55 Athlone/Ballymahon Rd is icy at Ballykeeran Hill.

Louth: Conditions have improved on the Castlebellingham/Dundalk Rd but continue to take care. Still icy on the Carrickmacross/Ardee Rd. • Slippery on the N2 Dublin/Monaghan Rd between Collon & Ardee.

Dublin: Gardaí are advising motorists to avoid Raheny Road at the Dart Station where vehicles are getting stuck.

Motorists are also advised of extremely hazardous driving conditions in Dún Laoghaire. Some roads in the Dalkey area are impassable. Poor conditions on the N11 are causing delays southbound.

Heavy snow is causing delays on the M50 motorway between Cherrywood and Dundrum junctions. Visibility on the higher parts of the motorway is described as extremely poor.

1651 There have been fresh snowfalls in France, hitting both Paris international airports, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Orly.

'Air traffic at all airports in the Paris region is very disrupted,' the civil aviation authority said.

At Roissy, 3,000 people were forced to spend last night in the terminals after 40% of flights were scrapped.

1643 Dublin City Council says overnight restrictions to water supply will continue for the next three nights at least.

1640 Dublin Bus has stated that due to adverse weather conditions diversions and curtailments are currently in place, and there may also be delays due to slow traffic.

It said it will continue to monitor all routes and corridors throughout the evening.

1607 Gardaí in midlands say driving conditions in the region are treacherous this evening.

There is a dense freezing fog falling in Athlone, Mullingar and Longford.

Gardaí are appealing to motorists to drive with extreme caution and to keep their fog lights turned on.

1552 Irish Ferries says it has space available on all Dublin-Holyhead and Rosslare-Pembroke sailings.

The company says it expects an increase in demand in the run up to Christmas amid ongoing flight disruption.

1548 Due to a pump failure at Sandyford Reservoir in Dublin, areas of Sandyford and Stepaside will have water cut off and see reduced pressure for the remainder of today and into tomorrow.

1505 With travellers frazzled by hundreds of flight cancellations across Europe, Germany's Frankfurt airport has hired clowns to try to keep travellers happy.

'Four clowns are performing in the terminal halls,' the spokeswoman for Frankfurt's international airport told AFP.

The clowns were sent in after fights broke out at the airport on Saturday between stressed-out holidaymakers.

1502 All flights from Brussels will be grounded from later this evening until Wednesday because of a lack of de-icing liquid following heavy snow.

The airport's French supplier has run out of raw materials needed to make the liquid due to a ban on heavy vehicles travelling on many roads in the region.

1456 Latest Met Éireann satellite image for Ireland and northern Europe:


1456 Heathrow Airport says only one-third of flights will operate until 6am on Wednesday 22 December.

The airport saysn delays & cancellations could potentially last beyond Christmas Day.

1426 The National Roads Authority has said individual local authorities do not need approval to purchase their own salt stocks.

Spokesperson Sean O'Neill said this afternoon that the NRA and County Council are doing what has to be done to keep roads treated.

1422 Longford County Council has issed a statement on the road treatment situation in the county

1420 Power has been restored to south Dublin and north Wicklow.

1425 DART services have resumed between Bray and Greystones.

The Luas Green Line is still only operating between St Stephen's Green and Sandyford;

Bus transfers will operate every 15mins between Sandyford and Brides Glen.

1402 All RTÉ TV & FM Radio transmission from Three Rock is currently down. Engineers are working to restore normal services.

Online services are unaffected: Live TV | Live Radio

1347 The Department of Education has said schools are free to decide locally how to make up for time lost due to unforeseen school closures.

In a statement, the Department said schools should make all reasonable efforts to make up the time.

But it said only individual schools could assess the actual impact of adverse weather conditions on pupil's teaching and learning.

The statement comes after the Irish Primary Principals' Network called for a suspension of the standardised school calendar so that schools could make up for lost time.

The Department said it would support individual schools making decisions based on local circumstances.

1341 The ESB says it has a significant power outage from south Dublin down into Wicklow.

1300 The northbound bore of the Dublin Port Tunnel has reopened. There are delays on approach, but these should ease shortly.

1242 In the UK, Gatwick, Stansted, Edinburgh and Southampton airports are open but delays or cancellations can be expected.

London's Heathrow Airport reopened at 6am following severe restrictions on flights over the weekend.

12.26 Hundreds of travellers are stranded at Frankfurt Airport in Germany following the cancellation of almost 500 flights.

In France, Charles de Gaulle Airport is closed due to heavy snowfall. Flights were due to resume at 12pm and priority is to be given to departing flights.

Flights have also been cancelled or delayed in Spain, the Netherlands and Croatia.

1238 P&O Irish Sea services on the Dublin-Liverpool route are currently operating on schedule.

1226 Bus Éireann says there is some disruption to services in the east and northeast, but the vast majority of bus routes are operating as normal.

There are curtailments on some Dublin Bus services in the south of the county and north Wicklow.

Iarnród Éireann said that all rail services are operating.

1215 An Post is advising customers of delays in the postal service because of the cold weather.

It says the wintry showers in the midlands and the western counties may result in some failures.

1200 Dublin City Council has said that water restrictions remain in place in the city and it is working to build up water reserves.

Engineer Michael Phillips has said restrictions will remain in place until 23 December.

He added, there will be no restrictions to water supply from Christmas Eve until 28 December.

Mr Phillips has said tens of millions of litres of water have been saved as a result of the restrictions to allow constant supply over the Christmas period.

Useful Links

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