Our newsfeeds are awash with updates on Hurricane Ophelia, and as the storm hits the country, a number of public transport services have been suspended.
In Dublin, the LUAS has been suspended for the rest of the day, with the service coming to a halt an hour ago.
A statement on the official LUAS website reads: “The Luas Red and Green Line services will be curtailed from 10am onwards today.
“Trams are being brought back to the LUAS depots, where they will be stored safely.
“Please be advised there are no further services operating on the system.”
All services have been suspended until tomorrow morning at 5.30am
— Luas (@Luas) October 16, 2017
All services cancelled nationwide from 0500-1400 tomorrow. Situation will be reviewed and some services may resume in the afternoon #Ophelia
— Bus Eireann (@Buseireann) October 15, 2017
The decision was taken on account of the danger posed by overhead power lines in the anticipated bad weather.
Normal service is set to resume tomorrow, Tuesday, October 17, at 5:30am. Updates can be followed on the website as well as on social media, through this link.
Elsewhere, Bus Éireann has chosen not to operate any of its services throughout the country. The pause in service will run from 5am until 2pm today.
According to a statement on the company’s official website, management will review the situation later in the day, and some services may resume in the afternoon.
The announcements come as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described the landing of Hurricane Ophelia on our shores as ‘a national emergency’.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is asking people to stay indoors and to check on their neighbours #Ophelia pic.twitter.com/U3nPx5boKf
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) October 16, 2017
Briefing the media in the past hour, the Taoiseach advised people nationwide to stay indoors and to check on their neighbours until the storm has passed.
As people across the country brace themselves for the storm, which has been accompanied by a status Red weather warning, the ESB has urged people to be safe.
“Our priority will be taking calls relating to emergency and dangerous situations on ESB Networks,” a tweet from the official ESB account read.
Admin has urged people in an emergency situation to call 1850 372 999 or +353 21 238 2410; for fault information and updates, check out powercheck.ie.
Stay safe out there, mums.
