TRAVEL chaos has kicked off today as numerous ferry trips from Ireland to the UK have been cancelled after Storm Darragh.
This comes as power cuts across the country could last up to a week before they are restored.
A number of ferries travelling between Ireland and Wales have been cancelled after the port at Holyhead experienced damage due to the strong winds.
Irish Ferries and Stena Line have both cancelled scheduled sailings to Holyhead from Dublin today.
Irish Ferries said that the Ulysses 8.05am and 8.55pm sailings are both cancelled, as well as the later James Joyce 2.30pm sailings.
Passengers who have experienced cancellations are being accommodated on the 8.45pm Rosslare to Pembroke sailing.
Stena Line has also cancelled four scheduled sailings today.
They said this is due to “technical reasons” at Holyhead.
Irish Road Haulage Association President Ger Hyland told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland there are trucks currently waiting for trailers in both Ireland and the UK.
He said that for the next two days trucks will be idle, and when ferries move again, it will take another three to four-day to catch-up.
While technical issues were reported at Holyhead, power outages are still impacting homes and businesses in Ireland.
ESB Networks said that 35,000 homes are still without power, with some possibly without it for a week.
Power has been restored to 360,000 customers since Saturday, with work continuing today.
They said that some customers could be without power for “approximately a week” due to the scale and severity of the damage.
ESB Networks Regional Manager Brian Tapley told RTE that calls are being prioritised based on the level of danger.
He said: “We are now into a situation where the same level of work needs to be done on a fault, but it may only restore supply to one customer or maybe five or ten customers, so we’re into the difficult phase of the storm restoration.”
Following status red and orange warnings across the weekend as Storm Darragh hit the country, thousands of people felt the impact.
Met Eireann recorded gusts as high as 141km/h at Ceann Mhása in Co Galway.
They also recorded gusts of 120km/h in Shannon, Co Clare.
Gusts of 115km/h were also reported in Co Cork.
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