Airports,roads and ferries disrupted by storms

Record wind speeds caused major travel disruption yesterday, particularly in Dublin, creating conditions which were described as "unprecedented".

A gust reaching 148km/h (92mph) was measured at Dublin airport yesterday morning, the highest at the airport since records began in 1941.

Almost 70 flights in and out of the airport were cancelled. The worst-affected airline was Aer Arann, which was forced to cancel 14 outbound and 11 inbound flights.

Aer Lingus cancelled five flights and some inbound passengers had to wait three hours before disembarking an aircraft and collect their bags because the strength of the wind made it too dangerous to open aircraft doors.

There were long delays for passengers as flight cancellations in Britain and Europe had a knock-on effect on services. Cork, Shannon and Ireland West-Knock airports were also affected by flight delays in Britain.

Dublin Port was shut for the first time in its history because of weather conditions. Port officials also reported record gusts of 157km/h (98mph) yesterday morning.

At one stage three vessels had to drop anchor outside the port because ships could not get in or out. Port spokeswoman Brenda Daly said: "We have never experienced weather conditions like this before and we're used to bad weather. It was unprecedented."

The Irish Ferries Jonathan Swift sailing from Dublin to Holyhead was cancelled yesterday and no sailing is scheduled for today.

Irish Ferries also cancelled yesterday's Pembroke to Rosslare service, while Stena Line cancelled its evening sailing from Rosslare to Fishguard.

In central Dublin, falling roof tiles resulted in the closure of South Great George's Street causing widespread traffic disruption.

Dublin City Council reported more than 50 callouts for its park department because of falling branches and trees.

There were also long tailbacks on the M1 southbound from the airport after a truck overturned in the wind, while illegally parked caravans which blew across the road caused disruption to traffic going to Dublin Port.

Across the country, falling trees blocked many routes. The worst-affected counties were Sligo and Monaghan.

The N2, the main Dublin-Derry road, was closed for a number of hours when a tree blocked the road near Emyvale, Co Monaghan.

A driver and two passengers had a lucky escape on the Monaghan-Clones road when a tree fell on the car, but nobody was injured.

High winds also caused power failures across the Border counties with 10,000 homes being left without electricity.

Homes in Kilkenny city also experienced power cuts for several hours when the bad weather knocked out an electricity sub-station in Nowlan Park.