THE HUGELY disruptive conditions caused by both Storm Emma and the Beast from the East over the last few days is set the cost the country upwards of €160 million.
Furthermore, flooding is forecasted for many areas of the country which could see the figure rise by another couple of million.
The national shutdown of businesses yesterday and today is estimated to have cost around €80 million for each day.
Irish Rail and Dublin Bus are both understood to be set to incur revenue losses of around €600,000 for each day.
Bus Eireann on the other hand is anticipating revenue losses of around €250,000 for the two days.
The last big freezes in Ireland occurred in January and December of 2010, and both cost €297 million and €224 million in damages respectively.
As if the snow and ice issues weren’t enough to worry about, they have been added to by flood concerns, with tidal warnings in place for Dublin and the eastern seaboard.
Dublin has already seen problems with Irish Rail's Dart southbound services suspended yesterday due to flooding at both Salthill and Dun Laoghaire.
The 'Beast' is travelling in from the Irish Sea - and when it meets with Storm Emma there will be 'climatic chaos' on a scale for which we have no real precedent.
Storm surges allied with high spring tides will bring a danger of coastal flooding.
"This will create conditions which underline our advice not to venture outdoors while these conditions persist," Sean Hogan, the chair of the National Emergency Co-ordination Group, told the Herald.
Irish Water Safety also warned people to be extremely careful near streams, rivers and exposed coastal areas - with melted snow volumes likely to see many waterways surge to near flood levels.
The Office of Public Works (OPW) warned that its advisory notice over high tides will remain in place until Monday.
