Monstrous 82mph winds and floods wreaked havoc across Britain this past weekend, as Storm Ashley smashed into our coastlines. The first named storm of the season saw the Met Office issue a rare ‘danger to life’ warning, with thousands of homes left without electricity and dozens of flights cancelled or delayed.
On Sunday, this included a number of Aer Lingus journeys to Belfast and Dublin, as well as Ryanair, Loganair and various other disruptions, according to reports. Now, Dublin Airport has implied that typical services are slowly resuming as usual, though it warned that some ‘knock-on delays are inevitable’.
This morning, its spokespeople posted to X, formerly Twitter: “Winds have eased considerably this morning and our first wave of flights is moving very well. However, as a result of Sunday’s disruption at airports across Ireland, the UK and Europe, some knock-on delays today are inevitable as several airlines have aircraft out of position.
“A small number of flights have already been cancelled by airlines for today. Passengers due to fly today are advised to check with their airline for latest updates regarding their flight. In total on Sunday, airlines cancelled 81 flights, 39 go-arounds were performed and 34 aircraft opted to divert to other airports.
“We thank passengers for their patience and our airport teams for their incredible work on what was a challenging day.” More than 100 flood warnings also remain in place across the UK today following the brutal impact of Storm Ashley.
This encompasses a staggering 45 alerts in England, 47 in Scotland and eight across Wales, according to BristolLive. Although Storm Ashley is set to ‘pull away’ from the northeast today, the Met Office asserts that ‘blustery’ conditions will persist.
In a weather update today, its experts explained: “Storm Ashley will pull away to the northeast this morning, but it will remain blustery across the north, with heavy showers. Drier further south, with sunny spells. However, it will remain cloudy across southeast England with outbreaks of rain.
“Rain clearing the southeast this evening. Clear spells elsewhere, with further showers in the north and west through the night. Patchy fog forming across central and southeastern parts of England.”