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LAST UPDATE | 17 Feb 2022
RED AND ORANGE weather warnings have been issued across the country as Ireland braces for the arrival of Storm Eunice tonight.
Met Éireann is forecasting severe conditions across the country tomorrow due to very strong winds, heavy rain and snow, with gusts of up to 130km/h.
A Status Red wind warning has been issued by Met Éireann for Cork, Clare, Kerry and Waterford, effective from tonight, when the storm is expected to pose a risk to life.
The warning in Clare, Cork and Kerry will be valid from 3am to 8am Friday morning, and the warning for Waterford will be valid from 7am until 11am.
People are advised to stay indoors during those hours, when fallen trees, dangerous driving conditions and damaged power lines are expected.
A Status Orange snow warning has also been issued for Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo and Roscommon.
People in these counties can expect heavy sleet and snow leading to “blizzard-like conditions” with treacherous driving conditions. The warning will be in place from 3am to 3pm Friday.
Schools will be closed in the seven counties impacted by both the Red wind warning and Orange snow warning.
Status Red - Wind warning for Cork, Kerry and Clare.
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) February 17, 2022
Storm Eunice will track quickly over Ireland tonight and Friday morning bringing severe and damaging winds. https://t.co/l8JdKfwZt9 pic.twitter.com/EwnQiS2EjH
An Orange wind warning has also been issued for all other counties in Munster as well as Galway, Dublin, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Laois and Kildare. The warning will be in place from 3am to 11am tomorrow.
Wind speeds in these counties are expected to reach mean speeds of 65 to 80 km/h with gusts up to 130 km/h. Some coastal flooding, especially at high tide, is expected.
This will be higher in exposed areas and there is also a possibility of coastal flooding.
A Status Yellow wind, rain and snow warning is in place for the rest of the country.
The National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) met earlier today to discuss Ireland’s response to Storm Eunice.
The panel, which brings together officials from the Office of Public Works, Met Éireann Gardaí, the Defence Forces and Coast the Guard, issued an update this afternoon.
Evelyn Cusack, the Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann said that Storm Eunice was a “very powerful storm”.
“It’s going to be a multi-hazard warning and very, very, very variable from place to place,” she said.
Cusack said that while the forecaster will receive further weather modelling soon, she doesn’t expect to see a major change in the current warnings in place.
“We will have some further Met Éireann modelling through the afternoon but we expect it to be there or thereabouts, as you can see it now on our webpage,” she continued.
“We may make some refinements but we don’t expect overall a huge change.”
The update provided by the NECG also highlighted that gritting teams across the country are prepared and have adequate supplies of salt to deal with any parts of the country that are hit with sustained snowfall.
In the UK, a red weather warning has been issued for the coastline of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset as well as the south coast of Wales from 7am until 12pm on Friday.
A red weather warning is the highest level of alert in the UK, with the UK Met Office saying that there is a risk of “flying debris resulting in danger to life” and “damage to buildings and homes, with roofs blown off and power lines brought down”.
Travel advice
This afternoon, the Department of Education announced that schools in seven counties – those affected by orange snow and red wind warnings – will close tomorrow.
The Department of Transport also said it is engaging with public transport operators to ensure that they are ready for the storm.
In particular, the department is engaging with ferry operators due to the hazardous conditions on Irish waters.
Due to the Status Red warning in Cork and Kerry, Bus Éireann will not operate any bus services in the two counties for the duration of the warning.
Rail services will continue to run in all counties, but customers are being advised to check @Irishrail on Twitter for local updates.
“We will be monitoring lines, including early morning checks, especially on Red and Orange alert areas, and there may be delays arising from reduced speeds in Red areas,” said a spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has urged road users to be cautious while on roads over the next several days, due to the Red and Orange weather warnings.
The RSA has also advised people to be wary of potentially hazardous conditions after the storm has passed, including flooded roads or downed power lines.
“When the extreme weather passes road users will still have to contend with potentially hazardous road conditions such as flooded roads and downed pylons, lines, trees, branches, and other debris which could block roads,” said the RSA in a statement.
Road closures or diversions will be put in place by either Local Authorities or the Gardaí.
During the storm, the RSA has advised that road users in Red warning counties do not travel at all until after the storm has passed, while road users in Orange warning areas are asked to consider postponing their journey until after the storm has passed.
Motorists are advised to consider:
HSE services
The HSE has set up a webpage to provide local information on service availability during Storm Eunice tomorrow.
According to the HSE, updates will be provided county by county and will detail the services that are in operation and those that are not.
The National Ambulance Service will remain in operation throughout the country tomorrow, and will be prioritising emergency calls during the storm.
The HSE have urged people to think carefully before calling, and have said that the National Ambulance Service’s response may be hindered by road conditions and local factors.
“Personnel will do their utmost to reach those in greatest need of our emergency services,” said a HSE spokesperson.
Park closures
National Parks across the country will be closed tomorrow due to Storm Eunice, with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage asking people to not visit the sites until they reopen.
According to the Department, they expect most of the parks to reopen on Saturday, with inspections set to be carried out after the storm tomorrow to assess any damage.
“We ask all members of the public when accessing these sites after Storm Eunice has passed to exercise caution and be aware that hazards such as fallen trees, hanging branches, damaged trails, flooded areas and other storm damage may be present,” said the Department in a statement.
The following parks will be closed:
Water and power
Irish Water has said that ahead of Storm Eunice, crews are on standby to tackle any issues arising with water supplies across the country.
According to Tom Cuddy, Irish Water’s head of Operations, there are expectations that a lot of checkups will be carried out by crews at Irish Water sites throughout the country this weekend
The main concern for Irish Water, according to Cuddy, is power failures and the impact that it may have on pumping sites.
“Irish Water has implemented its emergency response processes in advance of Storm Eunice and is working closely with National Emergency Co-ordination Committee, Local Authorities and other partners to co-ordinate the national response and to ensure that the risk to service interruption as a result of the storm is minimised,” said Cuddy in a statement.
“We would like to assure our customers that we will be working as a matter of priority to restore any supplies impacted by the storm as quickly as possible, once it is safe to do so”
He advised people to keep track of local water outages through the @IWCare Twitter account, and on www.water.ie.
The ESB have warned that people should be careful of fallen wires following Storm Eunice tomorrow, saying that it was critical that people remain safe.
Earlier today, following Storm Dudley, there were several thousand homes without power. As of this evening, however, a majority of them have been resolved.
It is expected that after midnight tonight rain and sleet will become widespread with falls of snow, especially in Connacht and Ulster.
Munster, southeast Leinster and western counties will be faced with stormy conditions overnight before being hit with severe and damaging gusts as extremely strong southwest winds become northwesterly.
There will be a risk of coastal flooding at high tide early on Friday morning with the lowest temperatures ranging from 0 to 4 degrees.
- Additional reporting by Tadgh McNally and Press Association
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Great news. They are not wanted! Lets hope this Govt does one good thing and hold onto those slots!!!!
IAG can still buy 75% of the EI and the government would have no control in what they do with slots, staff, strategy or aircraft. At least by selling they get some guaranteed.
I suspect we will regret this decision in a few years when Aer Lingus starts losing to bigger competition and will then be not as attractive to a buyer. We would then get a much lower sale price.
Under M&A rules in most markets once a share holder gains a certain percentage of the shares all other parties must sell to them, wonder is that the case here
Also assuming IAG did get majority control could the government exercise any blocking vote? I.e would he gov just be a minority shareholder with limited / no influence
Let’s hope it’s not sold off – look at the National Lottery disaster unfolding!
Aww, did somebody’s shareholding lose value?
Jason.., and what about your beloved Ryanair? They might not want to sell because of the increased competition that any takeover may bring- the airline business in Ireland needs to get as competitive as it is in the Uk
Not true, the law passed paving the way for Aer Lingus to be floated on the stock market, stated that the government would have to pass another law if Aer Lingus wanted to sell Heathrow landing slots.
Eoin there’s plenty ways to skin a cat. Slots could have been leased to a different carrier or something similar
Eoin nope, any law of that nature would collapse under EU rules it’s why the Bermuda 2 agreement collapsed and it is how secondary trading of Heathrow slots was established.
Protect, if you were keeping up you would know that FR are being forced to sell their shares down to a 5% holding by the UK regulator and that they’ve been hawking the EI shares around for years now looking for a buyer. They’d take the hand of IAG at this price offering.
Jason , you should be aware that they are contesting the ruling based on other airlines bring taking over
I am Brian, I suspect they’ll lose it though!
Jason do the pilots not own something like 7% of the shares and have said they won’t sell? The rest of the staff have another slice. Etihad won’t sell their 3% if the government keep their stake.
So you’ve upto near 40% there
nah just sell it, money could be well spent on upgrading our water system
Got to do end of your news feed an no mention of the Fianna Fail councillor plotting to kill the detective. What gives?
He is a former FF councillor.
As with FG I’ve seen many leave publicly and not privately. Regardless it’s headline news
Some good news for Ireland, hopefully. Aerlingus doesn’t need to be sold. Its making profits and growing year on year. Keep it that way.
Mike – EI was sold, remember?
Your knowledge of NI was even worse.
You OK m8?
Actually a 5.7% fall in passenger numbers in Jan 2015, a massive pensions issue to deal with, dwindling. Cash reserves and an ageing fleet that requires updating!
Oh and in since 2001, it has made a net after tax profit off, 4.5 million euro!
The Troll is awake. When did you crawl out? Bill, Will, Gravel, how many more names do you use on here. Weird……
Just one Mike.
Did you NOT know that EI was sold!!??
Yeah right!!! It doesn’t need to be sold onto a company like IAG. Iberia made a pre tax profit loss of over €350 million. The government should hold onto its stake and have some control over the airline. Aerlingus did make profits of over €61 million in 2014. IAG are not interested in Dublin, Shannon, Belfast or Cork. Irelands main hub will just become another regional airport like Glasgow or Birmingham. Ireland will lose out if this sale goes ahead, higher prices for everyone.
Pre-tax loss.
They actually downgraded their profits forecast for 2014. Again on the last 10 years they have a net after tax profit of 4.2 million euro! And a 5.7% drop in passenger numbers for Jan this year
Again, huge pension hole to fill, relying on interest from it’s billion euro flotation, which they have a mere 300 million in cash left. Oh and a quickly ageing fleet that will need updating!
Looking forward to Richard Bruton “turning the sod” when 1000s of layoffs are announced in North Dublin!
The main reason for this reduction in passenger numbers is because Aer Lingus cut it short haul/Regional capacity. Aer Lingus long-haul passenger numbers were up 22% compared to the same month last year. IAG has a combined BA/Iberia pension deficit of £3 billion.
Who says IAG is the best people to buy it? It can not survive solely on long haul routes and all need more than North American routes to survive long term
They don’t just survive on long haul routes, they fly to a large number of European destinations. And with the expansion into the US and Canada this will help the airline grow even more. The company made profits of over €61 million last year. With much lower fuel costs the airline could double those profits this year.
Mike it’s passenger numbers fell by 5.7% in January, it requires all it’s routes to be growing to be profitable.
And again since 2008 it has made a 60 million loss after tax last year available it made a NET PROFIT of 31 million half of what you are claiming. Aer Lingus is not tax exempt!
Wayne passengers dropped but capacity was cut by double that to protect profits.
Passengers are useless if they will be carried with a loss.
They downgraded 2014 profits but upgraded them a few months ago so they will be in line with projections.
Of course they pay taxes on that but they still made a profit. Better than a loss eh, you’re quoting figures from 2008. The year of the crash, bailout year, 7 years ago……. The airline is back in profits and growing this year. Like i said the airline cut its winter capacity on short haul/regional routes. This is why they carried slightly fewer passengers. It makes sense to reduce services at this time of year. What company wants to fly planes half empty to lose money.
It made half the profit you stated, it is a small airline highly exposed to fuel price changes ( notice they still apply a fuel surcharge to all US flights). And highly exposed to a single small market
The have issues that will come home to roost soon, pensions and fleet upgrades.
And they have managed to burn through 700 million from their flotation without addressing either of the above issues they have had 400 million on losses since 2001! And approx 404 million on profit years!
Long term figures show a sucker picture than cherry picking good years
If AIG bid fails it will have nothing to do with the govt protecting slots,,, it will be down to labour party fearing the loss of seats in North Dublin,,,,Expect FG/Lab to do a deal after the next election if they have enough seats to form govt………As will be the case with Irish Water when FG pal auld Dinny O B gets handed it on a plate
The Labour Party are finished.
FG are riding high though
Who cares, Ryanair is de bestest for d trips to Costa del crime ya know warrrrr I mean buddddd
Yeah for the chavs only
Major mistake by govt not to sell. Aer Lingus is a small regional airline just as Michael O’Leary has said and if not taken into the IAG fold will disappear in a few years. When it begins to lose money again, the government cannot subsidise it. It leases most of its aircraft and they are begining to need replacement. Major investment is needed in Aer Lingus.
Ken
Do some research on the airline business
He’s right on all those points Ronan, Aer Lingus are extremely vulnerable from above and below them. Their short haul fleet will require big investment in a few years time. They have new long haul jets on order which will have to be paid for. Remember, the state can own but is not allowed to pour capital into an airline, and rightly so, under EU rules.
Aer Lingus could decide to lease out the lot of their Heathrow slots in the morning and the government would be able to do nothing. Under this deal they had certainty for five years. In any case, the Heathrow slots issue is way overblown. They were a way bigger deal ten or fifteen years ago. Nowadays, you can use out of Ireland any of the other major European hubs, North American hubs or Dubai & Abu Dhabi
Thats it, im off to the apocolypse bunker, the world must be coming to end an end if the government are turning away money by making a sensible decision to keep aerlingus.
Clever money would have bought shares 6 months ago. During the summer shares were trading at 1.30 p s. Even at €2 those shares are still worth good money.That said , the govt would be prepared to screw Dublin airports growing transatlantic business ( 2.1 million last year ) just to save a few flights from their precious west coast to Heathrow. All in the ” national” interest of course… What a bunch of parochial goombeens…
With WOW low cost airline offering low fares to the US and Ryan ain’t planning to also offer the route maybe it is time to re asses the value of Aer Lingus
It will be sold sooner rather than later thankfully
have your say