Ireland to face remnants of record-breaking US storms

Ireland is expected to face suffer heavy rain and strong winds this week as Europe is hit by the remnants of the weather system…

Ireland is expected to face suffer heavy rain and strong winds this week as Europe is hit by the remnants of the weather system that brought record-breaking snow storms to New York.

The stormy conditions will be experienced by most of the country by Thursday and Friday, bringing heavy showers and blustery conditions. However, Ireland is not expected to experience any snowfalls.

Thousands of travellers in America were left stranded yesterday when sections of the US north east were buried under more than two feet of snow.

Met Eireann has predicted windy and showery weather for Wednesday and Thursday. Strong westerly winds will bring squally showers of rain and hail, although there will be some bright or sunny intervals.

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A Turkish Airlines flight skidded off a runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport early today after the record-breaking storm buried sections of north-eastern America under more than two feet of snow.

The National Weather Service said 26.9 inches of snow fell in Central Park, the most for a single storm since record-keeping started in 1869. The old record was 26.4 inches in December 1947.

The storm had closed all three of the major New York-area airports, and airlines cancelled more than 500 inbound and departing flights - 200 each at LaGuardia and Newark airports and 120 at Kennedy.

Newark and Kennedy had reopened with limited service when the Turkish Airlines flight skidded off the runway at 9.20pm local time as it was landing. None of the 198 passengers was injured. It was unclear whether the icy weather was responsible.

The storm came on the heels of an unusually mild January that had people shedding jackets and ski resorts lamenting lost business.