Chance of snow before Christmas as strong winds cause travel disruption

Tomas Doherty

A series of weather warnings are in place across much of the north and west as people travel home for Christmas.

Roads, flights and public transport face possible disruption due to strong gusts as Met Éireann forecast a cold, wet and windy weekend for many.

P&O Ferries confirmed journeys between Co Antrim and Scotland have been cancelled for at least 24 hours.

A spokesperson said: “Due to adverse weather conditions, all P&O Ferries sailings between Larne and Cairnryan have been cancelled from 2000 tonight (21st December) until at least 2000 tomorrow night (22nd December). We ask our customers please not to travel to either of the ports if their sailing has been cancelled, to avoid causing traffic congestion.”

It comes amid a status-yellow wind warning for Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal until 2pm on Sunday.

A similar warning is in place for Clare, Limerick and Kerry for 24 hours from 3pm on Saturday.

A snow-ice warning for Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Leitrim and Louth will be in place overnight until 9am on Sunday.

Poor visibility, icy patches and wintry showers of hail, sleet and snow could cause disruption in those areas.

Met Éireann said westerly winds will continue through Saturday, before veering north-westerly and peaking on Saturday night.

Large waves are also forecast with wave overtopping and spray expected along coasts in counties under wind warnings.

This will also lead to difficult travelling conditions in coastal areas. Some fallen trees are also possible.

Blustery scattered showers are also expected over the weekend, becoming widespread overnight on Saturday. Some of showers could be heavy and wintry with a mix of rain, hail, sleet and possibly some snow, especially in parts of Ulster and on higher ground.

Forecaster Liz Coleman said Met Éireann was not planning to name a storm at this stage but urged people to keep informed for any forecast updates.

“We are conscious that this is a busy weekend with people out and about and travelling home for Christmas,” she said.

“We want everyone to be aware that there could be tricky conditions on the road with these sustained winds.

“People need to take care in coastal areas as well, as there could be some very strong gusts along coasts with wave overtopping. Heed the advice of the Irish Coast Guard: Stay Back, Stay High, Stay Dry.”

The UK Met Office has an alert in place for strong winds in northern counties until 9pm on Sunday.

It warned that a prolonged period of strong winds over the weekend is likely to lead to some transport disruption.

The winds will ease for the start of next week but there will be rain moving east across Ireland on Monday, Met Éireann said.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day will all be mild and mostly cloudy with a fair amount of dry weather and with some light rain or drizzle at times, most likely in western and northern counties.