Dublin airport has been forced to close again after more snowfalls this evening compromised the runway. The weather conditions were also taking their toll on the country's roads with major tailbacks reported on primary routes.
The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) said braking action on the runway had been severely compromised as a result of heavy snowfalls and flight operations would not resume before 11pm at the earliest.
"Our snow and ice crew are working in difficult conditions to clear the runway, taxiway and apron area as quickly as possible," a spokeswoman said.
"With over 600 acres of runway, taxiway and apron area to clear, one inch of snow over the airfield equates to more than 15,000 tons of snow to be removed," she added.
Aer Lingus earlier cancelled all of its services out of Dublin airport until tomorrow morning. The airline said the closure of the airport for three hours earlier today because of accumulations of snow on the runway had a knock on effect to flight operations and that it regretted the decision.
"We are doing everything possible to get our customers home for Christmas," the airline said in a statement. Ryanair earlier criticised the DAA for not clearing the main runway quicker following this morning's closure.
Extra flights to Britain, continental Europe and North America had been put in place from Dublin as airlines attempted to clear the backlog of passengers whose Christmas travel plans were disrupted earlier this week by the bad weather.
The DAA said earlier that consideration was being given to operating flights on Christmas Day in an attempt to clear the backlog of passengers waiting to enter and exit the country.
All other Irish airports are fully operational this morning however many passengers are still experiencing weather related delays.
Meanwhile, motorists have been urged to drive with caution and expect delays as thousands of people make their way home for Christmas amid difficult conditions.
Gardaí said extra care should be taken when moving from motorways and primary routes on to secondary roads as the surfaces have not received the same level of treatment.
Public transport services were all operating today but with curtailments, diversions and delays on some routes and some cancellations on others.
Bus Éireann said 95 per cent of its services and all inner-city routes were operating today but that delays should be expected.
Iarnród Éireann said full services were continuing to operate throughout the network across Intercity, DART and Commuter routes. It warned there may be some delays where snow is being cleared from points.
Irish Ferries said it expected this would be its busiest day of the year. It said all sailings from Holyhead to Dublin were as good as full but that there was some space on its Pembroke to Rosslare services.
In Dublin, the Luas green and red lines are operating as normal. Dublin Bus said it is operating most services however diversions and curtailments are in place on some routes. Due to deteriorating and icy road conditions across the city, its Nitelink services will now not operate tonight, it said.
Traffic on the N4 Sligo road, M7 Limerick road and M9 Waterford road was said to be particularly heavy with delays of up to 2 hours reported on the M9.
A Garda spokesman urged motorists to observe extra caution and to pre-plan their journey. "Allow adequate time and check ahead to see what conditions are like local to your destination point," he said.
Gerald Fleming of Met Éireann said further snow showers were likely to drift across the eastern counties today but that he expected to see an end to the snow tonight.
Mr Fleming said tomorrow would be a drier day but would still remain very cold. He said conditions would slowly improve from then on with a thaw kicking in from St Stephen’s Day onwards.
Michael Phillips, Dublin City Council engineer, said 500 personnel were working to clear the streets to help shoppers and that some 100 army staff were helping to clear snow in and around transport hubs and hospitals.
He said an extra effort was being made to clear motorway on-ramps and slip-roads to help motorists travelling home for Christmas. This followed a number of complaints from hauliers and motorists.
