25,000 homes without power as Storm Barney lashes country

About 25,000 homes are expected to be without power overnight after Storm Barney battered the country with winds of up to 125km/h.

The number of homes that lost electricity has been scaled back from more than 45,000 following the efforts of repair crews.

Earlier on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for ESB networks said approximately 15,000 homes in Co Clare were without power, as well as 12,000 in the southwest and Cork and a further 10,000 homes in the southeast.

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The vast majority of outages were caused by falling trees hitting power lines.

The areas affected included: Tullamore, Athlone, Loughrea, Ennis, Tralee, Limerick, Killarney, Newcastlewest, Kilkenny, Clonmel, Roscrea, Bray and Arklow.

Further repair works will continue into tomorow with updates available on powercheck.ie.

Heavy winds have caused problems, with reports of significant numbers of fallen trees, particularly in Co Kildare, Wicklow and Laois.

Irish Rail has closed its Docklands station in Dublin after a tree fell and blocked the tracks.

Dart services between Dalkey and Greystones are suspended due to line faults.

Status Orange

Met Éireann issued a Status Orange wind warning and ferry sailings and flights have been cancelled due to the storm.

The warning was put in place until late on Tuesday and affects counties Dublin, Wicklow, Galway, Clare, Kerry and Limerick, where gusts of 100-125km/h are expected and wind speeds are predicted to reach 75km/h.

The powerful winds have also disrupted air travel, with a number of flights to Dublin diverted to Belfast.

Dublin Airport has warned of more disruption and advised people to check with their airline for updates.

A number of flights to and from Cork and Shannon airports have also been affected.

By about 8.30pm the winds appeared to be easing at Dublin Airport and airlines were catching up on delays to schedules.

An evening flight to Sarajevo was cancelled, affecting many of the visiting football fans for Monday night’s Euro 2016 qualifier with Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Four other flights were diverted to Belfast, with most of the difficulty caused by winds gusting across runways making take-off and landing difficult.

The highest reported wind speed on Tuesday was at Shannon 129km/h, recorded before 6pm.

Gardaí are appealing to all road users to exercise extreme caution on the roads.

With high southwesterly winds forecast, motorists are advised to slow down, maintain a safe driving distance and always expect the unexpected.

Drivers of high-sided vehicles, motorcyclists and cyclists, who are particularly vulnerable to strong winds, are asked to take particular care.

Fallen debris on the roads should be reported to gardaí.

The Road Safety Authority says dipped headlights should be used at all times of poor visibility and are advising pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists to wear bright clothing with reflective armbands or a reflective belt.

Ferries cancelled

Irish Ferries has cancelled its Jonathan Swift fast ferry crossings to and from Holyhead because of bad weather conditions on the Irish Sea.

Passengers will be accommodated on alternative ferries at 2.15pm and 8.55pm.

For further information contact the Irish Central Reservations Office on 0818 300400 or Dublin Port Office on 01-6075519.

AA Roadwatch was reporting high winds on the M6 Galway/Dublin Road between J1 M4 and J5 Tullamore and there are difficult driving conditions on the M18 Galway/Limerick Road between J12 Killow and J16 Gort due to high winds.

Gardaí are also advising motorists to be careful along the N72 Fermoy/ Banteer Road between Castletownroche and Mallow due to fallen debris and Centre Park Road in Cork city is blocked due to a fallen tree.

Extra care is also needed on the M7 between J26 Nenagh West and J28 Castletroy, with high winds reported in the area.

Remain indoors

Limerick City and County Council advised members of the public to avoid unnecessary travel on Tuesday afternoon because of the storm warning.

“It is important that members of the public pay attention to Met Éireann’s advisory as this weather system has the potential to deliver Storm Force 10 winds to Limerick for a period during the afternoon to early evening,” it said.

“Members of the public are advised to remain indoors where possible during the storm and to stay away from rivers and other water bodies.

“The Council is on full alert and will respond to emergencies as they arise or as it is safe to do so,” the Council added.

Clare County Council also urged the public to stay indoors on Tuesday afternoon because of the weather warning.

Paul Moroney, senior engineer for Clare County Council said: “High winds are forecast later today over the southwestern and Western fringes of the country.

“Met Éireann have issued an orange weather warning which covers Co Clare during this weather event.”

“Co Clare is likely to be affected to a greater extent than most other areas, with the impact extending for a considerable distance inland through the afternoon.

“The advice is to defer any planned road journeys during this period unless necessary and to take whatever precautions or measures are normally appropriate during such weather conditions.

“In particular take care in coastal and exposed areas,” he said.

Wind warning

Status Orange is the second most severe warning level and is explained by Met Éireann as “weather conditions which have the capacity to impact significantly on people in the affected areas”.

A less severe wind warning, Status Yellow, is in place for Co Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Wexford, Offaly, Westmeath, Cork, Tipperary and Waterford, with gusts of up to 110km/h and wind speeds of up to 65km/h predicted.

This warning is in place until late on Tuesday.

Winds will ease everywhere before midnight before becoming strong again overnight with gales on coasts.

Wednesday will be windy again, reaching strong gale force near northwest coasts.

Heavy showers will spread to all areas during the day.

It will turn colder on Thursday night and Friday will be a bright and cold day with sunny spells and scattered showers.

Cold conditions look set to continue next weekend as winds remain northerly.