Storm Emma: Guide to Irish airports, public transport, road conditions

Airports

All airlines operating out of Dublin Airport have suspended operations on Thursday with no flights likely to depart until Saturday at earliest

Ryanair said all of its flights scheduled to and from Dublin, Cork, Kerry, Knock and Shannon Airports on Friday were cancelled.

Cork Airport has closed and and normal operations are not expected to resume until Saturday morning.

Shannon Airport said it remained operational as of this afternoon but is closely watching weather patterns. It is experiencing a significant number of flight cancellations and it strongly advises passengers intending to fly from, or travel to Shannon to contact their airline.

Further heavy snow expected over coming days as red alert extended

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Red weather alert extended nationwide with 40cm of snow forecast

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Forecasters say blizzards not seen since 1982 expected on Thursday

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Weather forces 250 school closures in North

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Ireland West Airport in Knock continues to operate as normal but the roads leading to it are treacherous. Several flights to and from the UK have been cancelled.

A spokeswoman for DAA said that it had been able to keep Dublin Airport open on Thursday morning but that clearing the runways had been “exceptionally challenging” with snow accumulating almost as fast as it was being removed.

All airlines had suffered massive disruption as hundreds of flights across all airlines had been cancelled, she said.

Road

Road conditions are being reported as difficult throughout the country, but volumes of traffic are light. Motorists are being advised not to drive unless they absolutely have to.

In Dublin there are difficult conditions on the M1, M50 and the N3 motorways. The right lane of the M1 northbound between Donabate and Balbriggan is blocked by snow. The N81 is reported to be impassable between Blessington and Tallaght.

There are very poor conditions with thick snow across most parts of Cork. Thick snow is already being reported on the roads across most parts of the south-east.

All counties are reporting heavy snow in their areas with difficult conditions for motorists.

Irish Rail

Irish Rail will operate as normal subject to delays but there will be no train services after 2pm on Thursday and services are unlikely to resume before 12pm on Friday.

The final trains on Thursday are as follows:

Belfast: 12.35 Belfast to Dublin Connolly;13.20 Dublin Connolly to Belfast

Sligo: 11.00 Sligo to Dublin Connolly; 11.05 Dublin Connolly to Sligo

Rosslare: 07.50 Rosslare Europort to Dublin Connolly; 09.40 Dublin Connolly to Rosslare Europort

Waterford: 11.00 Waterford to Dublin Heuston; 10.15 Dublin Heuston to Waterford

Northern Commuter: 13.15 Dublin Pearse to Drogheda; 12.30 Drogheda to Dublin Pearse

Maynooth Commuter: 12.48 Dublin Pearse to Maynooth; 13.40 Maynooth to Dublin Pearse

DART: final services to be confirmed, expected 13.00 approximately

Cork: 12.00 Dublin Heuston to Cork; 11.25 Cork to Dublin Heuston

Tralee: 13.20 Mallow to Tralee; 13.05 Tralee to Cork

Cork Commuter: 13.00 Cork to Cobh; 13.15 Cork to Middleton

Limerick: Connecting Limerick to Limerick Junction services to Cork trains

Galway: 11.05 Galway to Dublin Heuston; 13.00 Dublin Heuston to Galway (special)

Westport: 12.45 Dublin Heuston to Westport; 09.45 Westport to Dublin Heuston

Portlaoise/Kildare Commuter: 12.20 Dublin Heuston to Portlaoise; 12.25 Portlaoise to Dublin Heuston

Western Rail Corridor: 10.00 Ennis to Galway; 10.30 Galway to Ennis.

Luas

All Luas services were suspended at 12pm. Luas trams are running on the lines but they will be empty. They are runing to ensure that the power to the overhead lines is still working and that the tracks are kept free of snow accumulations.

Bus Éireann

Bus Èireann has cancelled all passenger and school transport services on Thursday. The company has promised to review the situation on Friday, but anticipated further “significant disruption”.

Dublin Bus

There will be no services on Thursday and or Friday.

Dublin Bikes

Dublin Bikes stations are currently closed and will remain so until further notice.

Ferry Ports

All Irish Ferry and Stena Line services to and from Dublin Port to Holyhead have been cancelled on Thursday.