Travel disruption is expected to continue into the second day after 143 flights scheduled to depart or land at Dublin Airport, Ireland, were cancelled by the Dublin Airport Authority on Friday due to heavy snow and freezing fog.
According Irish news, A dozen or more flights scheduled for Saturday have also been cancelled as at the time of this writing.
The DAA confirmed that 69 outbound flights and 74 inbound flights were cancelled on Friday.
Meanwhile, passengers planning to travel over the weekend are advised to check in with their airline before arriving at Dublin Airport.
It comes after thousands of passengers had their flights cancelled and many more faced hours-long delays at the airport on Friday as airlines struggled to de-ice their planes.
A spokesperson said, “While the runways and taxiways at Dublin Airport have remained open and fully operational for the entire day, some airlines experienced delays to their flight schedules due to difficulties de-icing their aircraft.
“Delays this morning have had a knock-on impact over the course of the day, leading to a significant number of flight cancellations. Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for the latest flight information,”
Met Éireann issued a status yellow freezing fog warning for the entire country on Friday afternoon, with visibility greatly reduced until midday on Saturday for affected areas.
Visibility will be very poor where this freezing fog occurs, making driving conditions “very dangerous, it stated”
Following the fact that the droplets are supercooled and can form as ice on windscreens, freezing fog is even more dangerous than normal fog.
Temperatures did not rise above freezing at a number of weather stations on Friday, including Dublin Airport and the Phoenix Park, where the highest recorded temperature was 0.4C. The warmest temperature recorded in Cork was 7.2 degrees Celsius on Sherkin Island.
Met Éireann’s Gerry Murphy stated that Ireland is “really only at the start of a very cold spell” and that people should be aware of the forecast because conditions could become dangerous.
A “cumulative” effect of several days and nights of sub-zero weather is likely, with temperatures dropping further, while hail, sleet, and snow are likely to fall on coastal counties in the coming days.
There will be widespread severe frost into the weekend, with Met Éireann now predicting that the cold spell will last until next week.
Snow may accumulate on the ground in the coming days in counties where wintry showers occur as a result of “temperatures” lowering all other factors.
