Environment

Snow: how is the big freeze affecting your area?

Many roads impassible as snow sweeps across Ireland

Children slide down a hill in Rathfarnham, Dublin. Photograph: EPA/Aidan Crawley

Wed Feb 28 2018 - 15:21

Dublin

AA Roadwatch says all routes in Dublin, particularly the Tallaght area are extremely dangerous due to heavy snow.

Court houses are not opening today.

Ryanair has announced that it has cancelled all flights to and from Dublin Airport for the rest of Wednesday as a result of the snow. “All affected customers have been notified of their options by email and SMS text message,” the airline said.

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Over at Tallaght Hospital, adult and paediatric outpatient clinics, elective and routine procedures and bloods have been cancelled for Thursday and Friday. Patients who present to the hospital for scheduled appointments today they will be seen.

The Department of Education has said all schools, third level institutions, colleges and centres of further education in red areas of Leinster and Munster will be closed tomorrow and Friday.

Dublin City University (DCU), University College Dublin (UCD), Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), the Royal College of Surgeons, the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB), the Institute of Technology Tallaght, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) are closed. Trinity College Dublin (TCD) will remain open today. Staff and students may come into the college as usual if it is safe for them to do so.

The IKEA stores in Ballymun and Carrickmines are closed today.

In the north of the county, all roads in Fingal are currently open to traffic but conditions are poor and drivers are advised to exercised caution and reduce speed.

South east:

Roads in Wicklow are extremely dangerous due to heavy snow. In Arklow, the Vale Rd (R474) was impassable between Arklow and Kilcarra. The Old Military Rd (R115) was closed from the View Point to the Sally Gap due to very poor road conditions.

Road conditions in Waterford and Wexford are also said to be dangerous.

University Hospital Waterford has cancelled all non-urgent activity from today until Friday as a result of the weather.

Outpatient clinics and elective surgeries have been deferred and patients will be rescheduled as soon as possible. However, all emergency and urgent services including cancer care will continue to be delivered. Urgent colonoscopies that are due to take place today will also go ahead.

The Department of Education has said all schools, third level institutions, colleges and centres of further education in red areas of Leinster and Munster will be closed tomorrow and Friday.

Waterford Institute of Technology is closed.

North East

AA says there snow on all roads around Navan and Ashbourne in Meath; including the N2 which has poor conditions, and the N51, which is impassable between Navan and Slane. In Louth, roads are slippery due to snow. The N2 is blocked between Collon and Slane due to a jack-knifed truck. Gardaí advise avoiding the route where possible.

Louth county council has used more than 180 tonnes of salt and grit in the last 24 hours and it has treated more than 1,600kms of roads.

Six ploughs and four gritters are deployed and the council’s crisis management team is monitoring the situation constantly, a spokesman said.

In Drogheda and Drogheda, snow ploughs have been used to clear roads in the town and main footpaths have been cleared and gritted.

In Ardee and Dunleer the roads are passable with care while the village centres in Omeath and Carlingford have been gritted, as has access to Dromad Garda Station.

All elective general, orthopaedic, endoscopy and outpatient appointments are cancelled for this afternoon, in Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, county Meath and it says “patients will be rescheduled accordingly.”

It also said that “In order to minimise unnecessary travel risks for patients, all elective and outpatient appointments, including endoscopy and orthopaedic at Our Lady’s Hospital Navan have been cancelled for Thursday, 1st March, and Friday, 2nd March 2018, due to the upgrading of the weather warnings by Met Eireann, which are effective throughout Dublin, Meath and Kildare.

Coach company Matthews.ie has suspended all routes tomorrow. It operates 133 services a day between the north east and Dublin. Matthews.ie will review the situation tomorrow and will announce by 6pm if they will operate on Friday.

Midlands:

Very poor conditions on the M9 in Kildare. The northbound side is no longer blocked however near J3 Athy following earlier collisions. Conditions remain poor along this stretch and gardaí say it should be avoided. Gardaí advise that the flyover over the N4 at J5 Leixlip is impassable.

Gardaí in Carlow advise avoiding the main N81 through Tullow, with several vehicles stuck on the hill. In Laois, Gardaí advise avoiding travel in Portlaoise where possible.

The Department of Education has said all schools, third level institutions, colleges and centres of further education in red areas of Leinster and Munster will be closed tomorrow and Friday.

South

Cork Airport suspended all flight operations until 12am midday to allow for the clearing of snow from the runway and taxiways.

Heavy snow is making driving conditions dangerous in Cork. In particular, the N25 was blocked westbound just after the Youghal Bypass where numerous trucks jack-knifed and there were long delays in the area. The N71 was blocked both ways 3km west of Clonakilty due to snowy and icy conditions, according to AA Roadwatch.

The Department of Education has said all schools, third level institutions, colleges and centres of further education in red areas of Leinster and Munster will be closed tomorrow and Friday.

As a result of the adverse weather and closure of CIT, the college has had to cancel its planned unveiling of a plaque to mark the 70th birthday of Irish rock and blues guitarist, Rory Gallagher.

Elsewhere:

Many parts of the west and north west have been unaffected by the poor weather so far.

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