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Flights cancelled as Storm Abigail sweeps across country

Weather warnings are in place for all areas.

Updated at 4.25pm

STORM ABIGAIL – THE first storm to be given a name under the new Anglo-Irish naming system – has swept across the country since this morning.

Wind warnings are in place for much of the country. In Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo, it’s a Status Orange alert – the second most serious warning.

A less serious yellow warning is in place for the rest of the country.

The alerts are in place until 6am tomorrow – but many areas are already feeling the impact of the strong winds.

Airports

At Dublin Airport there have been a large number of delays this afternoon, and a small number of incoming domestic and international flights have been cancelled altogether.

An Aer Lingus flight from Donegal – due to land at 3.35pm – was cancelled earlier. This evening, scheduled flights from the Isle of Man (Aer Lingus), Shetland (Eastern Airways) and Frankfurt (Lufthansa) have also been cancelled.

Anyone with travel plans for later this afternoon is being advised to check with their airline, an Airport spokesperson said.

At Ireland West Airport in Knock, two flights were diverted to other airports this morning.

The Ryanair flight from Lanzarote, due to land at 11.30am, was diverted to Dublin. The airline’s service from Liverpool, scheduled for an 11.35am landing, was sent to Shannon.

A spokesperson for the airport wasn’t immediately available to confirm whether the diversions were weather-related. However, strong winds are being reported in the county.

Flights were arriving and departing as normal at Shannon and Cork.

Warning to drivers 

The Road Safety Authority has urged drivers to exercise caution behind the wheel this evening.

Gardaí, meanwhile, are warning people to stay away from exposed coasts and waterways during the stormy weather (they’ve also been making some dreadful jokes).

Outlook

This is the current forecast from Met Éireann for the rest of the day:

Becoming wet and windy everywhere this afternoon and evening as heavy rain (with occasional thunderstorms) spreads across the country in strong and gusty southerly winds. Highest temperatures of 13 or 14 degrees.

weath The wind picture at around 4.30pm. Earth Wind Map Earth Wind Map

And for tonight:

The rain will clear to heavy showers by early tonight, but it will continue to remain windy and gusty through the night (the wind direction changing to west-southwesterly). A cold night with lowest temperatures of 2 to 4 degrees.

It will remain windy with heavy showers tomorrow morning.

Read: Wind warnings extended to entire country as Storm Abigail sweeps in>

Read: No-one knows quite what to make of our strangely warm November weather>

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    Mute Paul Linehan
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    Mar 9th 2019, 12:01 PM

    I bet when she was 16 she thought people in their thirties were old…. Now those in their eighties would probably be young ones. She obviously has a great enthusiasm for life. Fair play to her, I hope she breaks the record.

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    Mute Damien Barton
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    Mar 9th 2019, 12:21 PM

    If she lived in Ireland they prob be after taking her off the pension by now

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    Mute Yuko Conlon
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    Mar 9th 2019, 1:20 PM

    @Damien Barton: You prob do not know the amount of the state pension in Japan is about €450 a month, less than a half compared to what Irish pensioners receive.

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    Mute Mary Elizabeth Whittle
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    Mar 9th 2019, 1:23 PM

    @Damien Barton: might even have to start paying tax again!

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    Mute Damien Barton
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    Mar 9th 2019, 1:44 PM

    @Mary Elizabeth Whittle:maybe get put on a back to work scheme

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    Mute Early Cuyler
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    Mar 9th 2019, 11:50 AM

    Eat lots of fish.

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    Mute Dougal67
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    Mar 9th 2019, 6:36 PM

    Her parents said they’re delighted for her

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    Mute Francis Devenney
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    Mar 9th 2019, 1:45 PM

    Jeanne Louise Calment was being interviewed on her 121st birthday and was asked about her still drinking wine and smoking she replied “When I was 114 the doctor tells me “Jeanne Louise you must give up smoking and drinking” I told him “I’m to old to be that f***ing miserable”"

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    Mute Jaycee Laycee
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    Mar 9th 2019, 11:54 AM

    Funny that global life expectancy is predicted to increase hand in hand with rising global emissions…..

    https://www.un.org/development/desa/publications/graphic/wpp2017-global-life-expectancy

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    Mute Brendan Cooney
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    Mar 9th 2019, 11:59 AM

    @Jaycee Laycee: correlation is not proof of causation. Simple concept but so often confused.

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    Mute Ashish Uday Lal
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    Mar 9th 2019, 12:00 PM

    @Jaycee Laycee: maybe science will continue to maximise human longevity, but global warming will lead to more sudden deaths through severe weather events. I don’t think climate change is contributing to increasing lifespans, do you?

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    Mute Dave Byrne
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    Mar 9th 2019, 1:18 PM

    @Jaycee Laycee: Yes, advances in medical science are amazing aren’t they?

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Mar 9th 2019, 9:06 PM

    @Jaycee Laycee: funny that, because in the US, one of the highest per capita sources of greenhouse emissions, life expectancy has started to fall. As was mentioned by another commenter, the two statistics are entirely unrelated.

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    Mute Al coholic
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    Mar 9th 2019, 12:28 PM

    Poisoned chalice she’s fecked

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    Mute Patti o furniture
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    Mar 9th 2019, 9:15 PM

    Switching to Guinness woo

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