Storm Emma to produce travel chaos, blizzard conditions across Ireland and UK through Friday

• Dublin International Airport canceled all flights for Friday. Many others, including London Hethrow and Manchester airports are experiencing cancellations and delays.

• Public transit across Ireland and much of the UK is at a standstill, with officials urging residents to stay off the roads.

• Wind gusts over 55 mph were reported in Dublin, with widespread gusts over 45 mph from Liverpool to Cardiff and Bristol.

Following the "Beast from the East," which brought cold and snow to British Isles already this week, Storm Emma will bring another round of snow and wind through Friday evening.

Storm Emma to lash UK and Ireland through Friday

The cold introduced by the "Beast from the East" will continue to hold across much of the U.K. and Ireland through the end of the week, setting the stage for even more rounds of snow and wind. However, many areas that have escaped the worst snowfall so far will be at risk for the heaviest snow from Emma.

This time, areas of Ireland and into southwestern England will be hit the hardest, as Storm Emma passes just off to the south of the British Isles.

In the United Kingdom, Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea are all in this area of greatest risk from Storm Emma. In Ireland, cities in the south and east will be hit the hardest including Cork, Waterford and Dublin.

It is anticipated that the combination of gusty winds and heavy snow can cause blizzard conditions through Friday evening, prompting red warnings for parts of South Wales, South West England and Ireland on Thursday.

Such conditions could bring travel to a halt and as such should be avoided if possible. Some rural communities could be cut off for days.

Easterly winds gusting to 40 mph will be common as the storm passes, with higher elevations of Scotland, Wales and Ireland likely to get wind gusts as past 60 mph. Winds of this speed will cause air travel delays, not only across Ireland and the United Kingdom, but could also cause delays to mount across mainland Europe. Blizzard conditions are also likely until winds die down late on Friday.

Such was the case on Thursday afternoon, when blizzard conditions were reported in the Midlands of England.

As of noon, local time, on Friday, Western Power reported more than 7000 properties without power in South West England. Another 1000 customers across Wales and southern England were also without power.

Unlike what is normally the case with windstorms impacting the British Isles, the exposed eastern shores will be more at risk for coastal flooding as winds whip through Friday.

In terms of snowfall, locations from southwest England and Wales into Ireland will have the highest snow accumulations, with amounts of 15-30 cm (6-12 inches) all the way to the coastline.

Elsewhere across Ireland, 8-15 cm (3-6 inches) of snow will be possible along with gusty winds creating treacherous travel.

Due to heavy snow and gusty winds, Dublin International Airport announced that all flight operations would be suspended on Friday and would not resume until Saturday morning.

Northern Ireland will get generally 2-8 cm (1-3 inches); however, local amounts up to 15 cm (6 inches) are possible in the east.

While Greater London will dodge the worst of Storm Emma, disruptive snow is still expected into Friday.

Intermittent light to moderate snow will accumulate around 8 cm (3 inches) in the city while western suburbs could receive locally higher amounts. Even this amount of snow is enough to cause slippery spots on roadways.

Snow at times will mix with freezing rain, as seen from Southern England to Scotland on Friday morning. This will cause further travel problems in places that might not see as much snow.

Easterly winds, gusting to 20-30 mph with isolated gusts to 40 mph, will be enough to cause minor damage, as well as blow around any snow that does accumulate and reduce visibility.

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Storm delays, impacts continue to increase

The harsh weather has already caused chaos across the country this week.

At least four people have already been killed in weather-related accidents on roadways so far this week, according to The Guardian.

The National Grid of the United Kingdom started to worry about the demand for gas surpassing the supply earlier this week, according to the BBC. However, with the cold continuing into the weekend, residents and businesses cranking up the heat will continue woes about the shortage.

The lowest maximum temperature for March was broken on Friday, where Tredegar in south Wales remained below -4.7 C (23.5 F) for 24 hours, according to the Met Office.

The harsh cold and bad travel conditions forced more than 2,000 schools to close across the country until next week, according to The Guardian.

Ahead of Storm Emma, Aldi announced they would be closing all of of their stores in Ireland from at least Thursday afternoon into Friday evening, according to their Twitter page.

Road conditions continued to be problematic across Scotland on Thursday. Both M80 and M876 in Scotland were closed Thursday morning, following heavy snow on Wednesday that stranded hundreds of cars on M80. Some drivers were stranded in the cars for up to 13 hours, according to The Scotsman.

Impacts to most Greater Anglia trains began early in the week, with delays and cancellations anticipated even through the weekend. On Thursday, Great Angilia urged on their Twitter page that customers "only travel IF absolutely necessary."

On Thursday, the Civil Defense in Cork helped to transport staff and patients to and from Cork University Hospital due to the difficult travel.

The "Beast from the East" prompted the cancellation of least 50 flights at Heathrow ahead of the stormy weather, and Glasgow airport was forced to suspend all flights on Wednesday. The "Beast from the East" refers to a strong area of high pressure that sets up over Scandinavia and pulls frigid air from Siberia to Europe and the U.K.

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