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Heavy rain and wind are likely to cause some unwelcome Christmas travel disruption as Storm Barbara sweeps across the country on Friday .
Some scheduled ferry sailings between Ireland and Britain have been cancelled due to the adverse conditions. Early indications were, however, that there were no major delays by road, rail or air on Friday morning.
Met Éireann issued - a status orange warning, which means the conditions may impact significantly on people across the country. It also issued a status yellow warning for marine areas.
The national meteorological office said Friday morning would be wet and windy as heavy rain spreads eastwards.
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This will clear to blustery showers from the west in the afternoon. Highest temperatures are expected to reach 9-12 degrees but it will turn colder later in the day.
Strong and gusty southerly winds will reach gale force along west coasts with severe gusts for a time in those areas.
Irish Ferries cancelled the 8.45am Swift Fast Craft sailing from Dublin to Holyhead due to adverse weather conditions on the Irish Sea.
It said passengers would be accommodated on the earlier 8.05am Ulysses cruise ferry and apologised for any inconvenience caused by the disruption.
StenaLine also warned that Storm Barbara may cause some disruption to some of its scheduled sailings on Friday and Saturday.
The company has carried 145,000 passengers and 43,000 cars in recent days.
Ferry passengers have been advised to allow extra time to travel to Dublin Port this weekend due to heavy traffic and on going road works in the area.
Dublin Airport said it would have its busiest Christmas season on record this year, with just under one million people expected to arrive and depart between Friday December 23rd and Friday January 6th.
The airport is not expecting any travel issues due to the storm, a spokeswoman said.
Some 978,000 people will travel through the airport during the festive period, up 8 per cent on last year.
The airport will close on Christmas Day – the only day on which it closes every year.
Some staff, including the airport’s emergency services, will remain on duty, however.
Flight operations will cease on Christmas Eve after the last flight departs at 22.50 to Chisinau with Air Moldova and will resume on December 26th when Aer Lingus’s EI 104 from New York lands at 5am.
Irish Rail advised customers to check their train times before travel over the Christmas period as an alternative timetable will operate.