Severe Winter Weather: ESSENTIAL PREPARATIONS, TRAVEL ADVICE, DRIVING TIPS & CLOSURES

sunsetbeachfan · 02-03-2018 05:52PM

How likely is it there will be flights leaving on Sunday from Dublin?

Mint Sauce · 02-03-2018 06:19PM

Weather forum right now.

Kudos to all who have contributed over the last few day, both with the forcasts,
and the updates, hopfully the next 24hrs things improve for them worst affected.

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gettoairport · 02-03-2018 08:01PM

I am in South Dublin and need to be in the airport for 4am.

Anybody any ideas how to get there?

No public transport, no aircoach, can't get a taxi.

dharma200 · 02-03-2018 08:02PM

gettoairport wrote: »

I am in South Dublin and need to be in the airport for 4am.

Anybody any ideas how to get there?

No public transport, no aircoach, can't get a taxi.

check for cancellations if it is a flight you are getting. They have just announced further cancellations

Graham · 02-03-2018 08:03PM

gettoairport wrote: »

I am in South Dublin and need to be in the airport for 4am.

Anybody any ideas how to get there?

No public transport, no aircoach, can't get a taxi.

I'd check your flight status first. Mostly cancellations for flights before 11am tomorrow.

greasepalm · 02-03-2018 08:05PM

i think sleeping in your own bed be better,not holding up much hope for early opening

gettoairport · 02-03-2018 08:06PM

Graham wrote: »

I'd check your flight status first. Mostly cancellations for flights before 11am tomorrow.

So far it is still scheduled

It's a 6:15 flight. How long will/can they leave it before cancelling?

Graham · 02-03-2018 08:08PM

gettoairport wrote: »

So far it is still scheduled

It's a 6:15 flight. How long will/can they leave it before cancelling?

What airline? Ryanair and Aer Lingus already announced dozens of flights cancelled.

gettoairport · 02-03-2018 08:11PM

Graham wrote: »

What airline? Ryanair and Aer Lingus already announced dozens of flights cancelled.

Ryanair, so far it is still saying scheduled on their website and I haven't been contacted to say its cancelled.

I presume it is still coming down strong out in the airport

Graham · 02-03-2018 08:20PM

gettoairport wrote: »

Ryanair, so far it is still saying scheduled on their website and I haven't been contacted to say its cancelled.

I presume it is still coming down strong out in the airport

Looking at the M50 Dublin Airport traffic cam now on https://www.tiitraffic.ie/cams/

It's not looking good

PhlegmyMoses · 02-03-2018 08:39PM

Dublin bus still saying they are up and running tomorrow morning. No exact times given of when they will start, where they will service, what kind of limited service they will run. Looking at the weather, current and forecasted, it seems crazy to think it will run.

maebee · 02-03-2018 08:45PM

gettoairport wrote: »

Ryanair, so far it is still saying scheduled on their website and I haven't been contacted to say its cancelled.

https://www.dublinairport.com/flight-information/live-departures

Currently only Barcelona and Lisbon are scheduled for 6.15

6.15 to Lisbon cancelled

Meteorite58 · 02-03-2018 08:51PM

https://twitter.com/countykerry/status/969658748393410560

gettoairport · 02-03-2018 09:24PM

maebee wrote: »

Currently only Barcelona and Lisbon are scheduled for 6.15

6.15 to Lisbon cancelled

Barcelona cancelled now. That's my flight

gettoairport · 02-03-2018 09:25PM

Been cancelled now

maebee · 02-03-2018 10:10PM

gettoairport wrote: »

Barcelona cancelled now. That's my flight

You could go to Lanzarote at 6.25

:):)

Meteorite58 · 03-03-2018 04:26PM

https://twitter.com/countykerry/status/969944941421088776

ednwireland · 03-03-2018 05:58PM

Chainsaw trousers are great in this weather

irishrover99 · 04-03-2018 08:00AM

Can anyone tell me why their was only 720 army personnel deployed during the the storm. (Correct me if I'm wrong on this number)
Seriously what else are they used for in this country.

They could help with food deliveries and road clearance in the major town and cites,

If Emma hadn't stalled, can you imagine how bad things would have been.

How many full time army do we have in the country?

I'm not slagging them off personally but all I see them do all year is provide escorts for the president, criminals going to court and money going to/ from the mint in the sandyford.

Polar101 · 04-03-2018 08:55AM

piplip87 wrote: »

Stockholm more than likely has infrastructure clearing equipment that is a good investment due to to frequency of snow there.

Would such an investment be value for money here, where major snow events happen maybe once a decade ? IMO you cannot compare Ireland with any snowy nation.

Well it's a numbers game, how much money do you want to spend on emergency committees, closed businesses and shutting down the country in general? Versus the cost of preparing for it in case it happens. I'm from a Nordic country and we get this kind of 'emergency' 2-5 months a year. Every year, not just 1947, 1982, 2010 and 2018. In Ireland a 3-day winter is a national crisis. I've no problem with the government's reaction to the winter, it seemed to be very well handled. It's just that the money can be spent in other ways as well.

touts · 04-03-2018 09:11AM

irishrover99 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me why their was only 720 army personnel deployed during the the storm. (Correct me if I'm wrong on this number)
Seriously what else are they used for in this country.

They could help with food deliveries and road clearance in the major town and cites,

If Emma hadn't stalled, can you imagine how bad things would have been.

How many full time army do we have in the country?

I'm not slagging them off personally but all I see them do all year is provide escorts for the president, criminals going to court and money going to/ from the mint in the sandyford.

I remember a few years ago you would see their trucks on the news out helping in floods, snow, etc. Now you'd rarely see any mention of them. We could trot out the old line that the problem is mainly down to cutbacks etc. But I suspect the main issue is what's left in the Army have probably gone like the HSE. Back office administration and accountancy have become the core functions at the expense of the frontline.

We're just getting by now but I fear someday there will be a major disaster and many of these essential, and very expensive, elements to the state's response won't be fit for purpose because clipboards and keyboards won't get the job done.

_Dara_ · 04-03-2018 09:12AM

Polar101 wrote: »

Well it's a numbers game, how much money do you want to spend on emergency committees, closed businesses and shutting down the country in general? Versus the cost of preparing for it in case it happens. I'm from a Nordic country and we get this kind of 'emergency' 2-5 months a year. Every year, not just 1947, 1982, 2010 and 2018. In Ireland a 3-day winter is a national crisis. I've no problem with the government's reaction to the winter, it seemed to be very well handled. It's just that the money can be spent in other ways as well.

Well, you’ve answered your own question. In Nordic nations, the cost-benefit analysis says that the expenditure to keep the country going is worth it. 2-5 months EVERY single year.

In Ireland, something like this might happen for a week or so every five years. The cost to the economy would still be much lower than the cost of introducing the equipment and processes to deal with extreme weather events.

The situations in Ireland and in Nordic countries are just not comparable. I’m not sure why you put emergency in inverted commas really.

irishrover99 · 04-03-2018 09:20AM

touts wrote: »

I remember a few years ago you would see their trucks on the news out helping in floods, snow, etc. Now you'd rarely see any mention of them. We could trot out the old line that the problem is mainly down to cutbacks etc. But I suspect the main issue is what's left in the Army have probably gone like the HSE. Back office administration and accountancy have become the core functions at the expense of the frontline.

We're just getting by now but I fear someday there will be a major disaster and many of these essential, and very expensive, elements to the state's response won't be fit for purpose because clipboards and keyboards won't get the job done.

But if they are getting paid anyway, surely it's no more cost to the economy.

I seen that some were not ready to be deployed because of training, but in other countries, armies do all their training in these conditions.

I was out clearing my road and walking about as bad as it was.

erica74 · 04-03-2018 09:23AM

Polar101 wrote: »

Well it's a numbers game, how much money do you want to spend on emergency committees, closed businesses and shutting down the country in general? Versus the cost of preparing for it in case it happens. I'm from a Nordic country and we get this kind of 'emergency' 2-5 months a year. Every year, not just 1947, 1982, 2010 and 2018. In Ireland a 3-day winter is a national crisis. I've no problem with the government's reaction to the winter, it seemed to be very well handled. It's just that the money can be spent in other ways as well.

This wasn't an "emergency" in Ireland, it was an emergency. People spent many an hour bickering over whether the red alert and instruction to stay indoors was justified but I think we can all now agree that it was. Part of enforcing the red alert was to ensure roads were clear of people incapable of driving in this weather, clear of abandoned vehicles, ensuring emergency personnel could get around and ensuring the clean up, snow ploughs and gritters could get through yesterday and today and be able to clear all the roads and not have to work around abandoned vehicles etc. And that was just one small part of the red alert for Ireland.
We don't have the money for the type of infrastructure Nordic countries have as it is not cost effective for something that happens once every 5 - 10 years, although if experts are to be believed, this type of weather event is going to get a lot more common here so they may have to revisit the matter.

Macy0161 · 04-03-2018 09:47AM

touts wrote: »

We're just getting by now but I fear someday there will be a major disaster and many of these essential, and very expensive, elements to the state's response won't be fit for purpose because clipboards and keyboards won't get the job done.

People have to get real with their expectations too. We're not 24 hours out from the end of the event, and people in estates and upland/ rural back roads giving out about being cut off and abandoned! That's not a legitimate expectation imo, when they are still working on getting the regional road network operational.

There's no point opening up a back road to a village, when the village is cut off from the town or national network, so doesn't have the provisions needed anyway. Like I said, we're not 24 hours from the falling snow from this event.

BTW, I would've said I've seen the defence forces in action on Facebook - again not every town has a barracks. I would suggest more likely they'll be deployed in a security capacity in future events, given the behaviour of some of our population in recent days.

Nettle Soup · 04-03-2018 10:50AM

irishrover99 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me why their was only 720 army personnel deployed during the the storm. (Correct me if I'm wrong on this number)
Seriously what else are they used for in this country.

They could help with food deliveries and road clearance in the major town and cites,

If Emma hadn't stalled, can you imagine how bad things would have been.

How many full time army do we have in the country?

I'm not slagging them off personally but all I see them do all year is provide escorts for the president, criminals going to court and money going to/ from the mint in the sandyford.

Ivan Yates ask same question. He said there was 9000 in the army but only 300 active on a given day during the big snow. Who knows what they actually do most of the time.

haminka · 04-03-2018 10:57AM

Polar101 wrote: »

Well it's a numbers game, how much money do you want to spend on emergency committees, closed businesses and shutting down the country in general? Versus the cost of preparing for it in case it happens. I'm from a Nordic country and we get this kind of 'emergency' 2-5 months a year. Every year, not just 1947, 1982, 2010 and 2018. In Ireland a 3-day winter is a national crisis. I've no problem with the government's reaction to the winter, it seemed to be very well handled. It's just that the money can be spent in other ways as well.

How cost-effective would it be to build flood defences in a Sahara? You are truly ridiculous if you expect Ireland having the same level of readiness as countries where snow and ice are standard.
Btw, I come from a country like that myself. It was -27 in the nights and -11 with sharp winds during the day plus constant snow where I come from this week. But I know the difference between my home country and Ireland so I know that you can hardly expect drivers in Ireland to change to winter tyres in November or October because winter and for the sake of three days of snow you can't have a fleet of snow ploughs and diggers etc. sitting somewhere just in case. The machinery needs to be services and maintained and used to be any good. And you just don't get that over here to justify the expense.

wakka12 · 04-03-2018 11:01AM

haminka wrote: »

How cost-effective would it be to build flood defences in a Sahara? You are truly ridiculous if you expect Ireland having the same level of readiness as countries where snow and ice are standard.
Btw, I come from a country like that myself. It was -27 in the nights and -11 with sharp winds during the day plus constant snow where I come from this week. But I know the difference between my home country and Ireland so I know that you can hardly expect drivers in Ireland to change to winter tyres in November or October because winter and for the sake of three days of snow you can't have a fleet of snow ploughs and diggers etc. sitting somewhere just in case. The machinery needs to be services and maintained and used to be any good. And you just don't get that over here to justify the expense.

Of course Ireland shouldn't have same regulations and provisions as that country you live in does. But we should have some more toned down versions seeing as snowfall is not so rare here that it never causes disruption , for instance everyone in Ireland should maybe simply own a pair of snow chains in case ,rather than being made drive in snow tyres all winter

haminka · 04-03-2018 11:08AM

wakka12 wrote: »

Of course Ireland shouldn't have same regulations and provisions as that country you live in does. But we should have some more toned down versions seeing as snowfall is not so rare here that it never causes disruption , for instance everyone in Ireland should maybe simply own a pair of snow chains in case ,rather than being made drive in snow tyres all winter

Snow chains won't help you if you're stuck in a drift. This isn't about skidding, it's simply about the overall readiness of the country. We had our local council cleaning the roads, starting with the main ones, then continuing onto the backroads and yesterday we had a JCB clearing the path in our estate too so well done.
I am glad the Government reacted the way they did. Look at the UK. People dead, stuck on the motorways in freezing weather, their emergency services were completely stretched. They had much bigger problems and all because they continued like nothing was happening. Ireland took it seriously and it paid off.

Heroditas · 04-03-2018 11:12AM

wakka12 wrote: »

Of course Ireland shouldn't have same regulations and provisions as that country you live in does. But we should have some more toned down versions seeing as snowfall is not so rare here that it never causes disruption , for instance everyone in Ireland should maybe simply own a pair of snow chains in case ,rather than being made drive in snow tyres all winter

We don't get enough snow to warrant snow chains. The chains would destroy the roads unless we got ridiculous amounts of snow.

EDIT: snow socks would probably be more appropriate. They only last a few days but that's all you'd need them for.

Severe Winter Weather: ESSENTIAL PREPARATIONS, TRAVEL ADVICE, DRIVING TIPS & CLOSURES

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