MET ÉIREANN HAS issued a Status Red snow-ice warning for Munster and Leinster starting 4pm tomorrow, warning that “blizzard-like” conditions are expected.
A Status Red snow-ice warning is currently in place until midday tomorrow for Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Wicklow and Meath.
As the country gears up for further heavy snowfall tonight, public transport has begun to be cancelled and many shops have announced they will close tomorrow.
Stay with us for updates throughout the evening regarding travel, schools, work and retail disruptions.
Dublin Bus has announced that it won’t operate any services after 7pm tonight.
Customers using its cross city services are being asked to take journeys before 7pm as all services arriving in the city centre on or after 7pm will terminate in the city.
The transport provider isn’t running at all tomorrow.
A number of businesses are to close to adjust their opening hours as the bad weather deteriorates.
Lidl
Lidl has decided to close all stores in Leinster and Munster from 3pm tomorrow until 1pm on Friday.
In a statement, the company said: “We are continuing to assess and monitor the situation as it happens. As always the health and safety of all colleagues and customers remain an absolute priority.
“Decisions may be taken at individual store level to extend this closure period depending on localised weather conditions.”
Ikea
Ikea’s store in Ballymun and its collection Point in Carrickmines, both in Dublin, will remain closed until further notice. The store apologised for any inconvenience caused to customers.
Dublin City Council
All Dublin City Council public offices have been closed since 3pm today.
This includes all parks, leisure centres, libraries and bring centres.
The council has apologised for any inconvenience caused.
Read the full story about shop closures here.
An Post services have also been affected by the bad weather. Letter and parcel services within all counties affected by the status red warning are suspended until further notice.
An Post said collection and delivery services will continue to operate in other parts of the country, “subject to local management discretion and with due regard for staff safety and the advice provided by the National Emergency Coordination Group”.
Bus Éireann has also confirmed that no services will operate in Leinster and Munster tomorrow.
In a statement this evening, the transport provider said:
Bus Éireann will not operate any services in Leinster or Munster tomorrow, Thursday 1 March, up until noon on Friday, 2 March. The siuation will then be reviewed.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused, but safety is of paramount importance, particularly as the public have been advised to stay indoors from 4pm onwards in these provinces.”
Given that all schools will also close in Leinster and Munster tomorrow and Friday, there will be no school transport services from Bus Éireann to these areas.
Local road conditions in other parts of the country – not in the red alert areas – will determine whether a full schedule of school services can run outside of this, Bus Éireann said.
Expressway inter-city services have also been severely disrupted today and Bus Éireann is asking people to check here for updates.
Bus Éireann added that most other services in the rest of the country are operating albeit with delays.
Commuters can find out more about what routes will be operating here.
Luas services are expected to remain in operation across both the Red and Green lines until the last scheduled service.
The Green Line from Bridesglen to Broombridge is operating every 15 to 20 minutes.
The Red Line from Saggart/Tallaght to The Point is operating every 15 to 20 minutes.
Luas services are expected to operate from 5.30am until 12 noon tomorrow with a 30-minute frequency.
An Garda Síochána is asking people in Leinster and Munster to remain indoors from 4pm tomorrow.
“Other than essential services, there are no reasons to be out on the roads at that stage,” Chief superintendent Finbarr Murphy said.
“The reason for that is because we have blizzard-like conditions that we haven’t seen for the last 30 or 40 years in Ireland. Those conditions are going to result in zero visibility,” he said.
Murphy also asked that people visit their elderly and vulnerable neighbours over the coming days.
We’re famous for our community spirit in Ireland, this is the time to step up and make a little bit of an effort to make sure you make contact with somebody to make sure they’re safe.
Clare County Council has confirmed that its offices and facilities will be closed to the public from 1pm tomorrow and won’t re-open until Monday morning.
Services and facilities affected by the closures include Áras Contae an Chláir, all Municipal District offices, public libraries, Active Ennis and Active Kilrush facilities, recycling centre, Ballyduffbeg Waste Management Facility, Clare Museum and the Motor Tax office.
The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre will close from 1pm tomorrow and will reopen on Saturday at 8am, weather permitting.
Clare County Council’s out-of-hours emergency number 087 416 9496 will remain open to deal with requests for assistance from the public in relation to blocked roads, fallen trees and other non-life threatening incidences.
Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin, Temple Street Children’s University Hospital, and the National Children’s Hospital Tallaght are cancelling ALL planned admissions and outpatients appointments for the next two days.
All appointments cancelled during this period will be rescheduled as a priority, a joint statement from the hospitals said.
Parents and families will be advised of their new appointment by their relevant hospital.
The three children’s hospitals are operating and their Emergency Departments are remaining open.
“We wish to reassure patients that those who attend the Emergency Departments will be seen,” the statement said.
“We wish to thank our staff who are making significant efforts to maintain services across the three children’s hospitals during very difficult and challenging conditions today.”
Good evening guys – Gráinne Ní Aodha here taking over the Liveblog for a bit.
Here’s the latest we have: The Taoiseach is to give a statement in the next few minutes on the worsening weather conditions – stay with us to find out what he says.
The Taoiseach has said that the last time we saw snow like this was in 1982 (here’s a little bit about that) and said that lessons learnt from that meant that it was important to stay safe.
He said that employers should assess whether its safe or necessary to open tomorrow.
He also said that departments which don’t provide essential services will close on Thursday and Friday, and those which do provide essential services will make a decisions themselves on whether to stay open.
Also at the National Emergency Co-Ordination Centre, Minister for Transport Shane Ross said that we’re facing an “unprecedented” and “very serious” situation, with deep snowfall expected over the next few days.
He said that 25cm of snow was expected tomorrow, and 40cm was expected on Friday.
Varadkar added that it could take until the weekend to restore normal services, but that they were as prepared as could be.
The message from the Taoiseach:
Speaking to the media about the worsening weather conditions. You may have faced inconvenience and disruption today. Tomorrow, if you are in Munster and Leinster, you will face extremely hazardous conditions. Please heed the warnings.
The government has said that transport services will resume when it’s safe to do so, and thanked services that have stayed in operation today in what was a “very, very difficult day”.
Meanwhile, Bus Éireann’s Expressway routes X8 – the 5.30pm service from Dublin Airport and the 6pm service from Dublin to Cork – will not operate this evening.
Speaking of transport, we’ve an update for you…
To update quickly, Irish Rail will be running tomorrow morning but with delays, the Luas will run limited services until lunchtime, and no Bus Éireann routes will run.
Minister of State for Defence Paul Kehoe said that he understood that private operators were saying that the likelihood was that their services also wouldn’t be operating.
After 4pm tomorrow, no travel journeys should be made in Leinster and Munster areas, save for emergency services such as ambulances he said.
Dublin City Council‘s management team have met this afternoon, and decided to close some of its offices over the next two days.
A decision has now been made to close all Dublin City Council public offices on Thursday and Friday.
The Council apologises for any inconvenience caused by this closure. This will include all area offices, parks, leisure centres, libraries and bring centres.
The car parks at Clontarf and Sandymount are closed to the public due to expected high tides over the coming days.
Meanwhile, Sinéad Casey has sent us in this truly spectacular picture of Annagassan, Co Louth, from earlier today.
Sure where would you get it etc.
Some possible bad news for those flying out from Dublin or Cork airport tomorrow:
“Due to adverse weather conditions, some flights to and from Dublin and Cork have been cancelled for tomorrow.
“All affected customers have been notified of their options by email / SMS text message. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Just after you think you’ve seen all the snow pictures there are to see, Dublin Zoo sends out these beauties:
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