Opinion
16 Oct 17

Hurricane Ophelia update: 176km/h gusts measured at Fastnet Rock, LUAS services suspended and more

A red wind warning has been set nationwide, with the fastest recorded gusts (as of 10am) being measured in Cork Airport at 124km/h and Fastnet Rock, 6.5km offshore at 176km/h.

Transport in Dublin city is coming to a halt with LUAS announcing that all its services have been suspended as of 10.00 until 05.30 tomorrow morning (17th October).

All services have been suspended until tomorrow morning at 5.30am

— Luas (@Luas) October 16, 2017

Irish Rail have confirmed that until further notice, no services will be operating in or out of Heuston Station, which includes trains to Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Waterford, Westport and Galway. Also cancelled are services from Limerick Junction to Waterford, Limerick to Ballybrophy, along with Cork and Portlaoise Commuter lines. However, services in Belfast, Sligo and Rosslare are operating as normal.

Update: No services into & out of Heuston until further notice https://t.co/ZOHwurtrN3

— Iarnród Éireann (@IrishRail) October 16, 2017

Bus Eireann has cancelled all routes as of 05.00 this morning until 14.00 with some services expected to resume in the afternoon.

Dublin Bus have also stated that their services will be withdrawn at 10.00 until 19.00, although further disruptions are being ruled as a possibility thereafter, with delays still expected tonight.

#DBSvcUpdate #Ophelia - Dublin Bus services to be withdrawn at 10.00. For regular updates check https://t.co/0uRvRD7axh pic.twitter.com/2zQiTADloy

— Dublin Bus (@dublinbusnews) October 16, 2017

An Taoiseach and Ministers have received briefings by the National Emergency Coordination Group on the Storm and its likely impacts, while regular updates are being broadcast on Irish radio all day.

?***WARNING***?

The national emergency coordination group has issued the following warning #Ophelia pic.twitter.com/rJSYcaUj1V

— 98FM (@98FM) October 16, 2017

An Taoiseach and Ministers being briefed by the National Emergency Coordination Group on Storm Ophelia and its impacts this morning. pic.twitter.com/tsArLs9tb7

— OEP (@emergencyIE) October 16, 2017

Further closures include Dunnes Stores, which has confirmed that all of its branches in the Republic and North will remain out of action for all of today. Vodafone too has announced "for the safety of staff and customers" that all of its branches nationwide will be closed today.

Due to storm Ophelia - all Dunnes Stores in ROI & Northern Ireland will be closed on Monday 16th October #Ophelia

— Dunnes Stores (@dunnesstores) October 15, 2017

Due to extreme weather conditions for the safety of staff and customers all Vodafone stores will remain closed. Stores will reopen tomorrow

— Vodafone Ireland (@VodafoneIreland) October 16, 2017

In relation to events, MCD Promotions and Aiken Promotions have stated that all events scheduled for this evening will be going ahead as planned. Further updates will be issued later on today.

The Helix, Dublin however, has issued a statement that all scheduled events for today will be cancelled, including Philly McMahon's book launch tonight.

Please note @PhillyMcMahon book launch tonight @TheHelixDublin with @TodayFM @cooper_m has been cancelled due to Storm Ophelia

— Gill Books (@Gill_Books) October 16, 2017

MET Eireann has posted an official announcement that they will be issuing all forecasts for the remainder of the day, since the National Hurricane Centre is no longer forecasting for Hurricane Ophelia.

Graphic of the max wind gusts to 10am.
Highest gusts since 10am:
Cork Airport 124km/h
Fastnet Rock (6.5km offshore) 176km/h#Ophelia pic.twitter.com/xbiGhh2OFE

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) October 16, 2017