Dubliners Warned About Risk Of Avalanches On Dublin And Wicklow Mountains Following Snow Storm

Dubliners are being warned about the risk of avalanches on the Dublin and Wicklow mountains following the aftermath of Storm Emma and the Beast From The East. 

Accumulation of snow on high grounds in the Dublin area have led to “shelves of snow” forming and if these begin to break off and fall they could trigger an avalanche according to John Kavanagh of the Dublin-Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team.

He told The Irish Independent that: “My gut feeling is that there will be avalanches in various locations when these cornices break off, but there will probably be no one around when they do.”

“The avalanches will most likely occur on high mountains with steep slopes like the South Prison in Lugnaquilla.

“We’re still dealing with unusual conditions so our advice to anyone heading into the hills is to expect unusual incidents.”

Wicklow Weather have an in-depth Facebook post on the possibility of the avalanches happening and the damage that it could do. 

The post says: 

“CLIMBER/HIKER SEVERE WARNING

“Both Mountain Rescue and Gardai continue to request that people avoid our uplands. Stranded vehicles continue to block access for plant machinery and mountain rescue in the County Wicklow uplands. 

“A notable increase in daytime temperatures this weekend will increase the thawing process but that will lead to problematic conditions in our hills and mountains. 

“A risk of avalanche conditions remains in place this week and weekend and this risk will continue well into next week. Extremely deep snow drifts remain in areas above 400m.

“Due to the increase in daytime temp values this weekend mountain streams, rivers will also pose a danger over the course of Friday to Monday with a risk of flooding downstream and downriver. “

Something to definitely keep an eye out for. 

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