With Ophelia en route to Ireland and a red weather alert in place, it has already been confirmed that schools and colleges will be closed on Monday, October 16.

And now the HSE has followed suit - cancelling all hospital appointments schedule to take place on the day. https://twitter.com/SimonHarrisTD/status/919663809756790784 A statement on Sunday read: "Due to the upgrading of the “Red” weather warning by Met Eireann to the whole country as a result of storm Ophelia, patients need to take note of the following; "Outpatients: all hospital outpatient appointments are being cancelled tomorrow Monday 16^th October. Consequently, patients do not need to attend or contact the hospital and they will be rescheduled as soon as possible. "Scheduled/planned procedures: Patients who are scheduled to have a planned procedure can contact the hospital in the morning to confirm if their procedure is going ahead. In order to minimise unnecessary travel risks for patients, only urgent procedures will take place tomorrow." The statement added: "Due to the weather warning only essential community services will operate tomorrow. If you are scheduled for a community service tomorrow please make contact with your service in the morning to see if it is proceeding." The HSE confirmed that emergency departments and the National Ambulance Service will operate as normally, however, "priority will be given to the most urgent cases".