Big Freeze Causes Havoc, Ireland 1981

Low temperatures, snow, ice and freezing fog leave roads throughout the country in a dangerous condition.
County Sligo is badly affected by the cold spell with freezing fog bringing traffic to a crawl. The Bundoran road is in a treacherous condition with icy patches in the Rathcormack area.
Similar hazardous conditions are causing havoc on the Dublin to Galway route and workers are out gritting roads to assist transport.
Packed frozen snow has created hazards between Longford and Mullingar. Wet roads have frozen making many Wexford, Wicklow and Cork routes dangerous.
Minor roads around Kildare are in a poor condition although reports state the Naas dual carriageway is relatively safe.
Temperatures around the country are low with parts of the north recording seven degrees below freezing point.
Motorists have been advised not to travel.
The backlog of passengers travelling from Dublin Airport to London is cleared with just 20 passengers remaining on standby. Gatwick Airport is closed but 400 delayed passengers left for Heathrow on a Boeing 747.
However the icy conditions do not deter a hardy bunch of Galway women, who take their daily dip in Salthill.
The weather condition have brought about the closure of a number of schools around the country. In Lisnalurg, County Sligo, Jennifer Donaghy makes the most of her day off school by helping to bottle feed twin lambs born on the family farm.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 11 December 1981. The reporter is Mary Fanning.