IRISH people heading to Dublin Airport for a flight today have been urgently warned to check for updates before heading off.
Storm Kathleen is causing chaos across the country with “dangerous” conditions that “may pose a threat to life and property” expected to cause some delays or cancellations at the airport.
Dublin Airport confirmed that they are “open and operational” today as the powerful storm continues to grip the country.
They said: “It’s windy, but the early wave of departures and arrivals has moved well.”
The airport added: “As always, passengers flying today are advised to check with their airline directly for updates regarding specific flights.”
Aer Lingus flights to Edinburgh, Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham have been cancelled already today.
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Aer Lingus warned that there “may be some delays and cancellations” to flights today and tomorrow as the storm batters.
A spokesperson said: “We continue to monitor the situation and will update customers via our website or SMS messaging should the situation impact our flight schedule.
“If your Aer Lingus flight is cancelled or rescheduled our Customer Care team will contact you directly or through your travel agent.
“You will have the option to rebook free of charge at a later date, go to ‘manage my booking’ or call one of our customer service agents on (01) 761 7834 from Ireland and 0333 004 5000 from the UK.”
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They added: “We advise customers planning to travel on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th April to please check their flight status before departing for the airport.”
An Aer Lingus flight from Cork Airport to London later this morning has also been cancelled.
They warned people to allow additional time to get to the airport and keep up-to-date with their flight status through their airline.
The airport said: “For the most up-to-date flight information, passengers are advised to check their flight status with their airline.
“Passengers travelling tomorrow should allow additional time for their journey to the airport.”
It is also understood that British Airway’s have cancelled some flights between London and Dublin as the ferocious weather takes grip.
They are rebooking customers onto the next available flight after being forced to take precautions due to the “forecasted adverse weather conditions”.
And Ryanair yesterday warned its passengers that flights to and from Ireland may be hit with “possible disruptions” due to Storm Kathleen.
A message on their website reads: “Affected passengers will be notified and any passengers travelling to/from Ireland on Fri 5/Sat 6 April should check their Ryanair app for the latest updates on their flight.
‘We regret any inconvenience caused to passengers by these weather conditions, which are outside of Ryanair’s control and affect all airlines operating to/from Ireland Fri 5/Sat 6 April.”
Storm Kathleen has already made landfall with five counties placed under Status Orange warnings and people warned to stay inside when the conditions are at their peak.
Cork, Kerry and Waterford were placed under the alert from 7am this morning and will remain under the major warning until 2pm this afternoon.
The Status Orange wind warning for Galway and Mayo won’t kick until 9am but will remain in place until 6pm this evening.
A Status Yellow wind warning came into place for the entire country at 5am and will remain until 8pm this evening.
Met Eireann said: “Storm Kathleen will bring gale force southerly winds, with some severe and damaging gusts.”
And they warned people to be aware of the “very difficult” travelling conditions the weather will bring and said possible impacts of the powerful storm include fallen trees, power outages, coastal flooding and wave overtopping.
There have already been reports of trees torn down by the storm.
And the ESB PowerCheck has shown outages across both Cork and Kerry already, with thousands of customers being affected.