The Beast from the East

Snow. A novelty for people in Ireland. Although it does snow a little in winter, it does not stick for our temperate climate would not allow it. But when an amazing phenomenon occurred here, where a large fall of snow from Siberia collided with a raging storm from the Bay of Biscay, our dreams of snow became a reality. This is an account of what happened during that eventful week between February and March.

It all started on that cold Tuesday night. Snow came pelting down in wild flurries. It had said on the news that there would be a storm on Thursday but no one expected what would come next. When Ireland woke up on that ‘supposedly’ normal Wednesday morning, the country went into chaos! The shops were completely out of bread and milk for people who were preparing for the worst. Kids, on the other hand, were having a blast! Everywhere where you went, a snowman was there to greet you. The children would fret going to bed, for in the morning, they thought the snow would be gone.

But when they woke up that Thursday morning, they realised their worries of the snow vanishing were all in vain, for that morning, the country was covered in a thick blanket of fresh, white snow! However, the adults were anxious about the closure of roads, the airports on lockdown and succumbing to frostbite. Met Eireann had issued a red weather warning for the Beast from the East and they advised us to stay indoors from 16:00 on Thursday afternoon to 18:00 on Friday evening. The nation was suffering from a severe bout of cabin fever as many people were completely snowed in. But the next morning, they lifted the warning at 09:00. RTE had been issuing frequent updates throughout the blizzard, giving advice on do’s and don’ts.

The following few days, a gradual thaw set in. Though as we, Sophie and Luke, are writing this on Thursday the 8th of March, the snow has still not fully left our country. But it is certain that Ireland will never forget this thrilling experience that hadn’t been experienced in 36 years, the Beast from the East…

By Sophie Bolger and Luke Mulvihill from Muinteoir Rory’s 6th Class