Lifeboat crew in Weymouth undertook harsh weather training in the midst of Storm Ciara and battled extreme waves.
The storm brought travel disruption and flooding across the UK since the weekend. Sunday’s rain and wind is giving way to hazardous levels of snow and ice across the UK. Heavy snow has started to fall in some regions and a number of weather warnings are in force after the storm caused travel chaos throughout Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
Telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com/TelegraphTV are websites of The Telegraph, the UK’s best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.
In This Story: Ireland
Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George’s Channel.
Geopolitically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. As of 2016, 4.8 million people live in the Republic of Ireland, and 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.
The Irish climate is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and thus very moderate, and winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, although summers are cooler than those in continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant.
A strong Irish culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music and the Irish language. The island’s culture shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing, and golf.
Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a country in north-western Europe occupying 26 of 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the eastern side of the island. Around 40% of the country’s population of 4.9 million people resides in the Greater Dublin Area.
The sovereign state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland which is part of the United Kingdom.
The state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the Irish government and Northern Ireland Executive have co-operated on a number of policy areas under the North/South Ministerial Council created by the Agreement.