Remembering Storm Emma and the Beast from the East three years on

With temperatures dipping to minus values a wind chill to to take the skin off a spud and some forecasters predicting a potential for some serious snowfall, it's worth a reminder of where we were this time three years ago.

The country ground to a virtual halt as Storm Emma teamed up with the Beast from the East - as they were coined - to create record levels of snow causing havoc over a two-week period.

Thousands of homes and businesses around the county suffered power outages after winds and snow accumulations on electricity lines caused outages, with over 3,000 premises being cut off in Navan alone. The outage lasted a number of days as the ESB repair crews were hampered from repairing the lines due to the poor conditions.

As many as 30,000 people in Meath also had to contend with water shortages as Irish Water was forced to implement restrictions on services due to leaks caused by frozen lines. The limitations on services lasted until March 9, almost two full weeks after the start of the storm.

While the "Beast from the East" will be remembered for the 10 foot snow drifts which brought the country to a virtual standstill, an arguably more memorable aspect of the storm was the food shortages which gripped the nation and sent us into spiral of panic buying commodities.

Other items such as vegetables, steaks, stewing beef and milk as well as bottles of whiskey, coffee and cream also proved to be very popular with customers. Apart from all the disruptions it caused the Beast also brought out the best of the people of Meath.

A perfect example of this was the wedding of Kilmessan man Eric Horan and Sian Williams. The wedding was rescued after locals in Kilmessan rallied around to clear snow and ferry the wedding parties to and from the church, with the help of Trim Fire Services. Costello's Centra Shop put out a call on their Facebook page for help and local 4X4 drivers answered a call to drive the newly-weds and their guests through the blizzards to the Trim Castle Hotel, some 10kms away. Trim Fire Services also turned out to escort the happy couple to their reception.

Should we get get another weather event like Storm Emma and the Beast this time around, at least the kids won't have to worry about schools closing to ensure they can get out for a snowball fight.