Work has begun to get Dublin moving again after Storm Emma hit the city last night.
The public safety notice advising people to stay indoors was lifted this morning but a Status Red weather alert remains in place until 6pm this evening.
Dublin’s four local authorities are currently working to clear roads but gardai are urging people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.
Gardai said this morning: “Many roads remain impassable and local authorities are prioritising national routes. If you must travel and become stuck, contact emergencies services.”
If a snow plow even needs assistance that shows how bad conditions are. DMR Roads Policing Unit assisting on the Belgard Rd, Tallaght. Remain off roads unless absolutely necessary.#BeastFromTheEast #StormEmma #BeSafe pic.twitter.com/Aj3BEPP0TH
— An Garda Síochána (@GardaTraffic) March 2, 2018
Fingal County Council’s Crisis Management Team held a conference call at 10.30am this morning.
Following the meeting, the council gave the following update: “Fingal County Council’s Crews were mobilised this morning and commenced ploughing and salting operations at 9.30am on roads designated as Primary Routes 1 and Primary Routes 2.
“This operation is likely to take at least three hours, possibly more, and the trucks will be refilled and sent out again once their run is completed. Our focus at this stage is to work through today on getting these priority routes open and safe for use by ordinary traffic.
“We will then revert to scheduled runs this evening with salting and ploughing taking place at 7pm and 4am.”
South Dublin County Council said that they have also been working to get priority roads working since early this morning but also advised against any unnecessary journeys.
The scene around Council offices in Tallaght earlier today. The ‘stay indoors’ warning may have been lifted but please don’t head out unless it is absolutely necessary as we work to get the county back working. #StormEmma pic.twitter.com/pJtpZXMMLY
— South Dublin Co Co (@sdublincoco) March 2, 2018
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council are currently working to clear priority roads and advised people to avoid coastal areas due to coastal flooding.
Crews clearing all lanes on M50 As you can see they move quite an amount of snow when ploughing. Again we reiterate please try avoid any travel if possible today. pic.twitter.com/VBQI85utjO
— dlrcc (@dlrcc) March 2, 2018
Dublin City Council crews worked through the night to clear major roads across the city.
Our Road crews worked throughout the night in the city, gritting 300km of streets with 200-tonnes of salt & snowploughs to clear snow. pic.twitter.com/hcq8K3Sxlp
— Dublin City Council (@DubCityCouncil) March 2, 2018
There is currently no public transport operating in the city, with Irish Rail, Luas and Dublin Bus saying they expect to resume service tomorrow morning.
