NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news…

Stranded passengers Hayden Marrold from Mayo and Christie Berry from Birmingham, England wait in the Irish Ferries main terminal. (Image: Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)

IRELAND

• Power has been restored to thousands of homes following outages caused by lightning storms this morning. The wild weather has also led to a total cancellation of ferry services.
• A Sunday Times poll has suggested an increase in support for the government but dissatisfaction rates are still at 59 per cent. [RTÉ News]
• A 28-year-old man died in a car crash in Cork.
• Prescription drugs worth €75,000 were found by gardaí searching a house in Summerhill.
• Today is the shortest day of the year.
• And it was a bad day for AIB which had to tell customers AGAIN that their cards will not work in non-AIB ATMs.
• Two people got engaged at Santa’s grotto in Clerys.

WORLD

A handwritten card is seen on a wreath laid by the main memorial stone for the victims of Pan Am flight 103 bombing in the garden of remembrance at Dryfesdale Cemetery, near Lockerbie, Scotland (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

#SCOTLAND: Victims of the Lockerbie bombing were remembered during special memorials to mark the 25th anniversary of the atrocity today.

#ENGLAND: Legendary BBC sports presenter David Coleman has passed away. He was 87 years old.

#SPACE: Did you know astronauts have heaters in their spacesuit boots? They were needed today during an ISS spacewalk.

INNOVATION

• Still on the look out for Christmas presents? Check out our last-minute gadget gift guide for some inspiration.
• Creative. Innovative. Terrifying. Here are the military robots Google bought this week.

PARTING SHOT

A couple in Britain decided to use their wedding day as a fundraising event for Cancer Research. Nathan Gibbs and Amanda Billington asked their friends and family to dress up as characters from the movie Shrek in the hope of raising at least £1,000. Obviously, the pair kept the main characters for themselves. Here they are as Princess Fiona and Shrek…

Image: Rui Vieira/PA Wire/Press Association Images