Main points
- A man has died after a tree fell on the car he was driving in Co Donegal
- Some 625,000 homes and business are without power in the Republic, and 250,000 in the North
- ESB Networks says the damage is “unprecedented” and some people face a week without power
- An estimated 120,000 homes and business have lost their water, while Eir says 160,000 lost access to broadband
- All Met Éireann wind warnings have now been lifted
- Among the badly damaged buildings was the Connacht GAA air dome in Co Mayo
- Record gusts of 183km/h were recorded at Mace Head in Co Galway
- From ESB outages to fallen trees: Share your experience of Storm Éowyn
- Get more from The Irish Times: Take a look at our podcasts and newsletters, sign up to push alerts or join our WhatsApp channel
Best Reads
- How is Storm Éowyn impacting Dublin?
- In pictures: Storm Éowyn lashes the country, with record winds and mass power cuts
- Power cuts: In the 80s we could get on with life without much trouble. Not so in 2025
That’s all for our live coverage of Storm Éowyn today! Live coverage will continue again early on Saturday at irishtimes.com
Up to 10 days to restore power for everyone in Northern Ireland
The number of people left without power in Northern Ireland has dropped from its peak of more than 280,000 homes and businesses, to around 250,000 this evening.
However, hundreds of trees have been felled by the storm and some people may have to wait for up to 10 days for their electricity to be reconnected.
The strongest wing in the North was 143km/h at Killowen in Co Down. All red wind warnings were lift
A Met Office red warning for Northern Ireland was lifted at 2pm. A yellow-level snow-ice warning is in force until 10am tomorrow.
Approximately 138,000 people across the country have no water this evening where supplies have been impacted by Storm Éowyn, Uisce Éireann has said. Supplies for a further 750,000 people are at risk.
The number of people without water is likely to increase as the widespread power outages at treatment plants and pumping stations continue to impact on supplies.
The impacts are being felt nationwide, with large areas without water across Kerry, Clare, Tipperary, Waterford, Galway, Donegal, Longford and Laois. Updates on local supplies issues will be provided on the Uisce Éireann website, www.water.ie, as they become available.
Uisce Éireann said its repair crews commenced restoration works on a phased basis once the status red weather warning was lifted.
Head of Water Operations at Uisce Éireann Margaret Attridge is warning that service disruptions may last a number of days for some households and businesses.
“This is an unprecedented storm event that has had a severe impact on our water and wastewater network nationwide,” she said.
“We are still assessing the full extent of the disruption to supplies. Our crews will work around the clock where it is safe to do so to restore water service as quickly as possible, but given the extent of the damage, it may take some time before full service is restored everywhere. We ask for the public’s continued patience during this challenging time.”
PA reports: More than 280,000 homes and businesses are without power in Northern Ireland after Storm Eowyn battered the region.
Hundreds of trees came down during the storm, damaging properties and blocking roads.
The strongest gust of wind recorded on Friday was 148.4km/h at Killowen in Co Down.
A Met Office red warning that covered the whole region from 7am lifted at 2pm.
Schools, colleges, courts and many shops were closed on Friday while some health appointments were postponed. Public transport was suspended during the top-level red warning for wind.
Dozens of flights were also cancelled at Belfast International and Belfast City airports.
The Aurora Leisure centre in Bangor, Co Down, sustained significant damage to its roof, and several large trees crashed down in Cyprus Avenue, a tree-lined street in east Belfast made famous by a Van Morrison song.
NIE Networks activated its emergency plans in response to the storm, and efforts to restore power have commenced following the end of the red weather warning.
At 3pm on Friday, there were around 283,000 customers without power in the region.
Alex Houston, network operations manager for NIE Networks, urged people to stay clear of any damaged equipment or broken lines.
“Where trees have fallen they may have impacted on a power line even if damage isn’t immediately obvious, so please look out for power lines and, if in doubt, stay clear,” he said.
“We will only be able to begin to mobilise our crews when the red alert passes.
“At that stage we will be focusing on making the network safe but our plea is for everyone to remain vigilant and clear of any electricity lines.”
In advance of the storm, police said Friday was expected to have the strongest winds in the region since the Boxing Day storm in 1998, which caused widespread disruption.
Earlier, First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly urged people to stay at home until the storm subsided.
“The scale of the storm, the level of wind that we’ve experienced across the island ... is something that’s never been seen before,” Ms O’Neill told BBC Radio Ulster.
Ms Little-Pengelly described it as a “very serious storm”.
Extreme, damaging and destructive winds associated with Storm Éowyn have caused widespread and extensive damage to the electricity network across the country with approximately 625,000 homes, farms and businesses without power as of 5.25pm.
This is down from a peak of 768,000 customers without power earlier today.
The impact on customers and damage to the electricity network nationwide is “unprecedented”, ESB Networks has said.
With Met Éireann red and orange wind warnings fully lifted, ESB Networks crews and partner contractors are now deployed where safe to do so, assessing damage at fault sites and restoring supply where possible.
“Power restoration will continue into the evening and commence once again at first light tomorrow morning, and we expect to make good progress restoring supplies over the weekend and into next week.,” it said.
“However, from our experience of previous significant weather events and due to the severity of Storm Éowyn, we expect that power restoration will take more than a week in the worst impacted areas. Estimated restoration times (ERTs) will provided once our teams have damage-assessed fault sites and these will be available and updated throughout Saturday and Sunday on www.PowerCheck.ie.”
Press Association reports: More than 1,800 objects are blocking roads across Northern Ireland after Storm Eowyn, the Department of Infrastructure has said.
A “significant” number of roads are blocked with fallen trees, branches and debris, it said, adding that it would take time to clear the obstructions and reopen roads.
“Staff are on standby to respond to incidents, but our response time is being affected by the adverse conditions and incidents will have to prioritised accordingly. The safety of members of the public and our own staff is paramount,” a spokesman said.
Road users have been urged to obey closed road signs and to stay clear of any damaged electricity equipment.
John Fallon in Galway reports: Local authorities in Galway and Mayo believe it will take most of the weekend just to assess the damage caused by Storm Éowyn and that it will be at least a week before the bulk of the work will be carried out to restore services.
The repair work, especially to thousands of houses without electricity, has been hampered by dozens of roads in Galway and Mayo being impassable because of fallen trees.
In many cases the trees knocked down electricity wires making the recovery work and travel in the area hazardous.
A status red warning elapsed at 11am on Friday morning, allowing rescue workers the first opportunity to go out and assess the damage.
By then they knew the scale of the problem was unprecedented with boundary walls, garden sheds and furniture, gates and roof tiles on houses suffering large scale damage.
Connemara was particularly badly hit with coastal flooding adding to the problem in an area where most houses were without power with little hope of it being restored during the day.
Some public transport resumed but there was continued disruption to rail services from Galway, Westport and Sligo with most unlikely to return before Saturday at the earliest.
Traffic lights throughout Galway city, in particular, were affected, making already hazardous conditions even more dangerous for those who had to go out.
Communications were also affected with mobile phone coverage down in some areas, while local radio station Galway Bay FM could only operate on its website and app after the main mast at its headquarters at Sandy Row in Galway city was blown down in the early hours of Friday morning.
The collapse of the iconic Connacht GAA air dome in Mayo was the biggest casualty in the area.
GAA staff had worked throughout the night in previous storms to protect the €3.1m indoor facility which opened four and a half years ago but even though four of them were on site throughout the night they were unable to save the structure.
Part of the roof ripped at about 4am on Friday and this caused the inflated structure to collapse with a lot of the roof blown away.
The centre, located near Ballyhaunis, had catered for about 6,000 players since Christmas and was widely used by clubs, counties, schools and third level colleges.
But Connacht GAA chief executive John Prenty, who had spearheaded the development of the largest indoor sports arena in the country, vowed that they would rebuild it.
“It’s been a bad night and a bad morning,” said John Prenty. “But thankfully nobody got hurt and that’s the most important thing. We took every precaution we could and put everything in place, but it wasn’t enough. It tore and it’s on the ground.
“It’s probably the most iconic GAA building in the country because it was unique. Nobody else had it. It’s gone, but it’ll be back. We hope to get it back and running ASAP. It’s a tough day, but I can guarantee you that it’ll be built again,” he said.
Red FM has said its presenters slept in the radio station studio in Cork city overnight to ensure listeners were kept up to date with Storm Éowyn on Friday morning.
KC and Neil Prendeville are the early morning hosts on Red FM so in order to make their show in time and avoid travelling during the storm warning, they decided to stay the night.
The radio station said KC slept on the floor in one boardroom as he was live on air at 6am while Prendeville took to a couch in another meeting room so he could go on air at 9am for his show.
Eir has said Storm Éowyn has caused “significant and widespread disruptions” to telecommunications services across the country.
The storm’s severity has resulted in approximately 26,000 fixed voice faults and 63,000 fixed broadband faults, primarily due to power outages at exchanges and on its core network.
This has left approximately 160,000 homes and businesses without broadband connectivity. There are outages at approximately 30 per cent of mobile network sites.
“ESB has confirmed that at least 725,000 homes and businesses are currently without power, further compounding the situation,” eir said in a statement.
“To support our customers during this challenging time, eir has deployed backup power to 1,300 Fixed Network sites and 200 Mobile Network sites. eir has commenced mobile generator deployment where it is safe to do so and our teams remain on standby to restore services promptly once conditions permit.
“Service restoration for core and mobile networks will proceed as a priority. It is expected that there will be a significant number of individual faults in addition to this, but the full impact of this will only become clear after power is restored and after resolution teams have prioritised making fallen poles and lines safe.
“Each individual fault will require a separate repair visit, and it will take some time for the full picture to emerge.”
A man has died after a tree fell on the car he was driving at Feddyglass, Raphoe, Donegal. The incident happened at about 5.30am as Storm Éowyn swept across the country.
Gardaí and local emergency services attended the scene where the man was pronounced dead. His body remains at the scene.
A full report of the incident can be read here.
A number of parkruns scheduled for Saturday morning have been cancelled due to unsafe or blocked running courses. Runners have been advised to check the parkrun website.
The Abbey Theatre in Dublin has confirmed that this evening’s performance of Emma will go ahead.
Sports journalist Malachy Clerkin writes how Storm Éowyn can’t destroy Connacht GAA’s ambition despite its Air Dome in Co Mayo being destroyed.
His piece can be read here.
Dublin Bus said its services are now above 90 per cent of levels typically seen on a Friday afternoon and this number will increase throughout the day.
The transport provider has been reintroducing its services on a phased basis since the status red warning was lifted.
Anne Lucey in Co Kerry reports: 40,000 houses were without power at 9am on Friday morning in Kerry and not all of them will have their power restored by tonight, said Séan Scannell, Kerry area manager of ESB Networks.
Roofs of buildings were damaged in several areas across the county from Dingle in the West to Killorglin in mid-Kerry to Muckross in Killarney. Houses along the coast in north Kerry were also damaged, with trees down on almost every road.
At least two houses had to be abandoned during the night after storm damage to their roofs.
West of Dingle, a photographer and his wife had a lucky escape after they awoke to find part of the gable wall over the bedroom of their house collapsing in the early hours.
Jaro Fagan of Kerry Views, which specialises in scenic shots of Kerry, said he and his wife Ingrid were woken at about 3am by a loud noise.
The couple live some distance from the coast and were asleep in the bungalow in the room at the gable side when they were woken by a gust.
“It all happened in a second,” said Jaro, who is originally from Slovakia but has been living in Ireland for over 20 years.
The wall plate at the top of the gable went as well as part of the roof, he said.
Although they are not on the seafront, they live in a valley and the wind ran through it from Mount Eagle/Sliabh an Iolair.
Advised to leave their house for safety in the early hours, with their two dogs, they could see power lines down and slates coming off buildings on the church road near Ventry as they travelled to stay with friends.
In Killorglin, slates came off the town centre Garda station.
McKenzie’s cafe in New Street Killarney was one of only a handful of premises open in the morning in the town. Tourists were dropping in and describing their experiences.
One couple from Tipperary were “on a break to shorten the winter”. They heard nothing of the storm while sleeping in their room in the International Hotel.
“All we noticed was the television signal was not great last night,” they said.
Three young men from Cork also braved the conditions to travel to Killarney for the snooker championship taking place in the Gleneagle Hotel.
A couple from Dublin were due to travel home after a break in the Gleneagle but got to the train station to discover that all the trains were cancelled.
They had to book into a town centre B&B near the train station.
In Dingle town harbour, the wind reached 163km/h. On Green Street in Dingle an ancient elm tree, thought to be 200 years old, came down and blocked the street.
Jessica Thompson in Co Longford reports:
Significant damage has been done to the perimeter wall of Longford Town Football Club’s Bishopsgate Stadium on the Strokestown Road as Storm Éowyn made its way across the county.
Thousands of euro worth of destruction has been done to the wall which collapsed during the storm, prompting Lanesboro native and MEP Ciaran Mullooly to state that sporting clubs and the GAA are going to need support.
“The damage done by the storm has been immense and sports facilities in particular have been hit badly,” he said in a post on social media platform X, referring to the “shocking destruction” of the Connacht GAA Air Dome, a €3.5m facility.
“This [Bishopsgate Stadium] is a smaller scale but equally devastating for Longford town.”
Co Longford awoke to over 15,000 homes without power by 6am this morning as gusts from Storm Éowyn brought trees and power lines down and roof slates off houses.
The N4 was closed between Longford and Newtownforbes until 12pm today due to a large number of fallen trees.
There were also trees blocking the Battery Road in Longford town, causing traffic disruptions.
Thousands of homes remain without power and phone networks are affected across the county.
Luas services are back up and running in Dublin
A conference room in the Galway Clinic was damaged overnight due to the impact of Storm Éowyn.
Fortunately, the area is away from the main hospital and clinical areas, and no one was hurt as a result.
As of Friday afternoon, Galway Clinic remains open though outpatient appointments have been cancelled for the weekend.
Patients affected by cancellations will be contacted to reschedule their appointments.
“The safety of our patients and staff remains our utmost priority and the situation is being closely managed by management,” the Galway Clinic said in a statement.
Watch – waves at Doolin, Co Clare during storm taken by Alan Betson
The cost of the damage wreaked by Storm Éowyn is likely to exceed €100 million for the insurance industry, judging from past storms, while experts have predicted the growing prevalence of such events will likely lead to higher premiums for consumers.
Forecasting gales and storms has been the business of the Sweeney family of Blacksod Lighthouse, Co Mayo, for generations, writes Áine Ryan from Mayo.
So when Fergus Sweeney says that Storm Éowyn “has definitely been the worst storm in years” he knows what he is talking about.
Indeed, the link to the weather station at the lighthouse was severed during the high winds in the early hours of Friday morning. This is the famous station where his late grandmother changed the course of the second World War with a forecast that caused the deferral of D-Day.
“Thankfully, on this occasion, while the seas were big, it was the high winds that caused the main impact. They reached 85m/h (136km/h) around 5am. There is widespread damage with roofs gone and electricity cables down all over the Mullet peninsula and Erris,” Sweeney said.
Down the Co Mayo coast in the relative shelter of Clew Bay, Pat Aylward was well prepared for the storm as his family home is right on the edge of the ocean, 8km from Westport. He said that the detail of the Met Éireann forecasts was really helpful.
“These winds were the strongest we’ve ever experienced here. We lost electricity during the night but it was restored on Friday morning,” Aylward said.
However, he witnessed widespread damage when he travelled into Westport to check the family’s guest house in the early afternoon. “There were lots of trees and fencing down and ridge tiles blown off houses. Signage and bottle banks were blown around the place at Westport harbour with one boat blown off its cradle,” he said.
Éir has said the severity of the storm has led to 26,000 telephone faults and 63,000 fixed broadband faults, primarily due to power outages at exchanges and on our core network.
This has left approximately of 160,000 homes and businesses without broadband connectivity. There are outages at 30 per cent of the mobile network sites.
“Service restoration for core and mobile networks will proceed as a priority. It is expected that there will be a significant number of individual faults in addition to this, but the full impact of this will only become clear after power is restored and after resolution teams have prioritised making fallen poles and lines safe,” the company said in a statement.
Officially Ireland’s highest ever recorded wind speed occurred at Mace Head in Co Galway at 5am. The gust of 183km/h beat the previous record of 182km/h which has stood for 80 years. However, a group of stormchasers in Lahinch, Co Clare recorded a wind speed of 187km/h at 3.30am in Lahinch, Co Clare. Only data from Met Éireann official stations can constitute a record, but it is further evidence of the historic nature of the power of Storm Éowyn’s winds.
And it is not proving to be an easy task to get the trains running on time again.
It never rains but it snows in Donegal.
Have you ever wondered what happens when a wind turbine gets too much of what it seeks?
The checklist was left out for me before I headed to bed last night, writes Stephen Maguire.
Charge all phones and laptops, leave out some candles, keep the fire going but, most importantly, make sure to fill the flask with hot water for tea in case the power goes out.
Power outages in high winds are not an uncommon part of life living in Donegal.
So it was a nice surprise amid a rare Red Alert Weather Warning when I woke at our house on the outskirts of Letterkenny to find that we were still connected to the national grid.
It was even more surprising when I went online to discover from an ESB spokesperson that more than 700,000 poor souls across the country were without power.
With a bit of a smug grin on my face I began working away making a list of trees blocking roads, power lines down and not least of all a serious road crash on the main Lifford-to-Letterkenny Road.
And just as I typed the last few words, a high-pitched sound came from the fuse box and the house was plunged into darkness.
My wife emerged from upstairs and remarked that at least we had water in the flask for tea.
I looked towards the opened and empty flask and realised (insert look of horror) that I had failed in my preparations for Storm Éowyn.
Do you know how long it takes to make an even tepid cup of tea by warming a pot of water on a stove? I do.
I’m now four hours without connection to the outside world not to mention a steaming hot cup of tea.
Stay safe everyone.
The number of homes and businesses in Northern Ireland without power has climbed to 240,000 and as we reported earlier, the numbers in the Republic in a similar position is now 725,000. That means just under one million homes and businesses across the island currently have no power which is – as has been said already – unprecedented.
Watch – Blanchardstown ice skating dome in Millennium Park collapsed as a result of Storm Éowyn. Video: Chris Maddaloni
How badly were Irish airports hit by the storm? Analysts Cirium crunched some numbers.
142 flights have been cancelled departing Irish airports so far – 41 per cent of all scheduled departures
A further 128 arriving flights have also been cancelled so far – 37 per cent of scheduled arrivals
The worst affected airports at present are:
- Dublin Airport (120 departures cancelled, 110 arrivals cancelled)
- Cork Airport (9 departures cancelled, 7 arrivals cancelled)
- Knock airport (5 departures cancelled, 5 arrivals cancelled)
Approximately 60,000 people across the country have no water this lunchtime where supplies have been impacted by Storm Éowyn.
Supplies for a further 500,000 people are at risk. The number of people without water is likely to increase over the course of the day as the widespread power outages at treatment plants and pumping stations continue to impact on supplies.
The impacts are being felt nationwide, with large areas without water across Tipperary, Longford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Carlow, Kilkenny and Galway. Updates on local supplies issues will be provided on the Uisce Éireann website, www.water.ie, as they become available.
Uisce Éireann repair crews have commenced restoration works in areas where the status red weather warning has been lifted.
The National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) met this morning to assess the situation and co-ordinate the response to Storm Éowyn. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne, joined this morning’s meeting.
“The period following a storm can often be the most dangerous and people should continue to be very careful particularly with regard to the hazard of fallen power lines and the threat of fallen trees and debris blocking roads.” the NECG said.
It said it was “working to co-ordinate and mobilise all available resources to support the efforts to restore power and services to homes, farms and businesses as soon as possible, prioritising vulnerable people”.
“Storm Éowyn has brought record-breaking winds and is causing widespread damage and disruption,” said the chairman, Keith Leonard.
“Public safety remains our focus, and the public should continue to shelter in place where red level wind warnings remain valid. It’s also important to remember that even when a red warning expires, we may continue to see potentially dangerous and damaging conditions until the storm has fully passed.”
Flights have resumed at Shannon Airport following delays and cancellations caused by Storm Éowyn, which at its peak saw winds gust to 137km/h.
The first flight from Stansted landed at 11.04am and departed back to Stansted at 11.45am. This was followed by a flight from Fuerteventura that landed at 11.50am and is scheduled to depart for Birmingham at 12.40pm.
A spokesperson for Shannon Airport confirmed that the airport is now operating a full, normal schedule. Passengers whose morning flights were cancelled are advised to contact their airlines. Additionally, passengers travelling to the airport this afternoon should also refer to their airlines for updates. Travellers are urged to exercise extreme caution due to the conditions left in the wake of Storm Éowyn.
We have an update from Vodafone which says that 14 per cent of its mobile network sites is currently offline.
“While the Vodafone network and services remain stable, the impact of the storm on ESB services will have a knock-on effect on the network and customer services across the country ... As expected, the most effected areas are Galway, Clare, Mayo, Kerry, Donegal and Sligo and into the midlands.”
Dublin Fire Brigade attended 35 storm-related calls for assistance during Storm Éowyn up to 11am, Dublin City Council has said. The calls involved trees and cables down, along with vehicles damaged by fallen trees, while some roads are blocked across the capital.
The Eastern Regional Communications Centre based in Dublin Fire Brigade HQ, Townsend Street Fire Station, received more than 120 emergency calls (non-ambulance) in total, over 95 of which were storm-related, for other Leinster counties (also including counties Cavan and Monaghan).
Some structures have been damaged in Dublin including a lamp-post that fell on to a house in Ringsend. In total there have been 77 calls for trees down, seven for power cables down, 17 structures impacted and six roads blocked.
Firefighters are continuing to ask the public to continue to exercise extreme caution during the Orange Warning period.
Dublin City Council’s customer services/emergency out of hours team has taken 72 calls since 8am today, and 32 of those have come through the emergency line and have been answered in an average of 26 seconds.
Early tomorrow morning, Dublin City Council will be assessing whether it is safe to reopen all services, which remain closed to the public today.
Extreme, damaging and destructive winds associated with Storm Éowyn have continued to cause widespread and extensive damage to the electricity network across the country with some 725,000 homes, farms and businesses without power as of 12.30pm
The damage nationwide to the electricity network and impact on customers is unprecedented, it said.
The worst of Storm Éowyn has now passed for most of the country but with Met Éireann status red and orange wind warnings remaining in place in parts until later this afternoon, further ESB power outages may still arise as the storm continues to track northwards, the company warned.
ESB Networks said it continues to closely monitor the storm impact on power supplies and all available resources including crews and partner contractors are now deployed where safe to do so, to assess the network and work to safely restore power as quickly as possible in challenging conditions.
“From our experience of previous significant weather events and due to the severity of Storm Éowyn, we expect that power restoration will take a significant number of days and will take more than a week in the worst-impacted areas,” the company has warned.
“Given the extent of the damage nationwide, estimated restoration times will only be provided once our teams have assessed network faults and these will then be available to view throughout Saturday on www.PowerCheck.ie.
“Our customer contact centre agents will be supporting customers throughout Storm Éowyn but will not be in a position to provide outage information until the network assessment has been fully conducted. To note, a technical issue earlier today due to unprecedented volumes on ESB websites, including www.PowerCheck.ie, has now been fully resolved,” ESB Networks said.
As Storm Éowyn passes through the country and clean-up operations get under way, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is urging that the immediate clean-up operation be left with the emergency services and professional operators who have the necessary competence to undertake the work safely.
Chainsaws are essential equipment for removing fallen trees and branches, but there are serious dangers associated with their use, the authority warned. “While well-intentioned members of the public may be tempted to help, the HSA strongly advises that only trained and competent operators equipped with the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) handle chainsaws,” it said in a statement.
“If you don’t have the proper training or equipment to safely use a chainsaw, don’t take the risk and instead engage with emergency and professional services,” said Mark Cullen, chief inspector with the HSA.
“Farmers in particular may be tempted to deal with fallen trees on their land or on adjoining roads. Personal safety must be the main priority and I strongly urge only those with the necessary skills to undertake work with chainsaws.”
There is a small enclave of houses in Galway that might serve to illustrate just how bad things were in the West overnight.
Clybaun Heights in Knocknacarra is made up of around 100 houses but in one small portion of the estate comprising 30 or so homes, a wall dividing the houses from a main road collapsed, a tree was uprooted and fell on a car and – as our correspondent said – “it was a scary night here, everyone has lost tiles, some people lost the fascia and soffit and that is just our little cul de sac.”
There has, she said, never been anything like it in the area – and it is an estate that looks on to Galway Bay and is pretty familiar with harsh weather.
There has been a lot of information to process over the course of the morning so maybe a brief re-cap in the form of a Q&A might help you get up to speed on where we are now?
Just how bad was the storm?
Was? How bad is the storm might be a better question because while most of the country has now had the red warnings lifted – and many counties are under relatively mild yellow alerts until 4pm – the North is still be hammered with Donegal and Northern Ireland under a red alert until 2pm. But to answer your question, it was very bad indeed with words such as historic and unprecedented being used repeatedly over the course of the morning.
Why was it so unprecedented?
The sheer force of the wind was unusual to say the least. At Mace Head in Galway at 4am there was a mean speed of 135km/h which breaks the previous record of 131km/h and at 5am there was a gust of 183km/h, which breaks the previous record of 182km/h. Very high winds were recorded across much of the country.
And was there much damage done?
In a word, yes although it is still too early to say how much. There has been significant damage to homes and businesses across the country with a GAA Centre of Excellence in Mayo being very badly damaged and an ice-skating rink in Blanchardstown Co Dublin effectively flattened. While it will take some time for the scale of the destruction to emerge, it is clear that it will leave many thousands of people will severe logistical and financial headaches in the days and weeks ahead.
How many people have lost power?
The damage to the power grid might be one of the enduring features of the storm with at least 715,000 homes and businesses around the Republic currently without power and that number almost certain to rise in the hours ahead. To put that into context, just under 400,000 homes and businesses were left without power during Storms Darragh and Ophelia. Engineers from ESB Networks were unable to even assess much of the damage while the country was under the red wind warning and could only with the most dangerous of situations. Even now, with a big area of the country under a status yellow alert, it will take time to assess the damage, ESB Networks has warned. And given that there are few areas of the country that have been spared, it will take even longer again to fix the problems.
How long are we talking?
There will be some homes and businesses that will be without power for more than a week, ESB Networks has warned.
What about public transport?
There was none for the first part of Friday. There were no buses, trains, trams or taxis operating during the red alert. While public transport systems are getting back up and running around the country – with the exception of Donegal – it has been warned that it will take some time for things to return to normal. Diversions are in place on many bus routes and Irish Rail are only now beginning to assess the scale of the damage on the rail network.
And how are things are the airports?
Again, they were terrible in the first half of the day. No flights took off or landed in Irish airports between 6am and shortly before 9am – traditionally the busiest travel window on any given Friday. With well over 200 flights to and from Dublin Airport cancelled as a result of the storm the travel plans of thousands of people remain in disarray. As the morning progressed and the winds eased, more and more flights started taking off and landing although it will be quite some time before things return to normal.
Just some of the pictures that have captured one of the worst storms to hit Ireland in modern times.
The status red wind warning has now expired for Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo but Donegal – and the North counties – remain under a status red wind warning. Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Wexford, Wicklow and Munster have also seen their alert downgraded again and will be under a status yellow warning until 4pm.
Dublin Bus services have begun to resume although there will be diversions in place in some areas.
Route 26
As the Chapelizod Road is closed, this route will be diverted via N4 in both directions.
Route 37
Skreen Road is closed so the 37 divert via Cabra Cross Road
Route 39
Towards Ongar
Sherlerim Road is closed, Route 39 outbound will divert via the junction at Shelerim Road, right to Blanchardstown North, divert straight through the next roundabout, right at the second roundabout, Clonsilla Road and back on to normal route.
Towards Burlington Road
Sherlerim Road is closed, Route 39 inbound will divert left to New Ongar Road, right to the Link Road, left to Heartstown Road and back on to normal route.
Routes 60, 68 and 69
Monastery Road is closed, Routes 60, 68 and 69 will divert via Woodford, past Boomer’s Pub and Watery Lane in both directions.
Around 16,000 Eir customers are without broadband. while more than 600 of the provider’s mobile sites have lost power although battery-pack generators are keeping things going. Cork, Galway, Mayo, Meath, Kildare and Clare are worst hit.
Just one of an almost endless stream of images highlighting the destructive power of the storm.
A terrifying clip of the storm’s impact in Tyrone this morning.
While the high winds are easing across much of the country, things are very bad in Donegal at present with gusts of almost 140km/h being recorded at 11am.
A total of 11 flights have departed Dublin Airport so far today, a fraction of what would normally be the case, but there are signs the number of flights taking off has picked up considerably in the last hour or so. No flights arrived although at the time of writing one was on approach from London Stansted.
Much of Killarney town is without power this morning with the high winds striking the county earlier than expected last night, reports Anne Lucey
Most of the effects were felt in the south of the county with Killorglin, and Milltown also out of electricity this morning. It will be tonight before power is restored and not all of the 40,000 customers will be back, area manager with ESB networks Séan Scannell said.
Teams from the county council and the ESB will be assessing the damage when the red alert ends later this morning and crews were being told to assess the danger to themselves also.
Roads are blocked throughout the county, with poles and cables and trees down, and there is a real danger of coming across live wires, Paul Neary, senior engineer with Kerry County Council, warned.
There will be “a body of work” in getting Kerry open again, he said.
Boundary walls came down and at least two houses had to be evacuated, in Dingle and in Ballybunion.
Telephone poles and lines are also down on the Muckross side of Killarney town and roads in coastal areas from Valentia to Ardfert are blocked with fallen trees. Inland, large trees have fallen in Beaufort and Princes Street in Tralee is blocked.
Houses shook with the power of the gusts that struck Kerry earlier than anticipated. However, flooding that arrived with the wind has dissipated.
Watch – The eerie streets of Dublin during Storm Éowyn as taken by Irish Times videographer Chris Maddaloni
The red wind warnings that were in place for Galway, Clare, Cavan, Monaghan, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow, Roscommon and Tipperary have all been lifted but all the counties remain under orange wind weather alerts.
The counties that remain under red alerts are Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo, and these will be lifted at midday. The red alert won’t be lifted in Donegal until 2pm, the same time as the red warnings for Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry are lifted.
And, at the risk of repeating ourselves, the entire country will remain under an orange wind alert for much of the day.
The University of Galway Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence Airdome has been destroyed as a result of winds brought by Storm Éowyn.
Photographs show the structure, which was the largest indoor sports dome in the world, collapsed during hurricane force winds in the early hours of Friday. It was 150m long, 100m wide and 26m high with capacity for 600 spectators.
More on how the West was battered.
Irish Times photographer Alan Betson has filed this footage of the wild Atlantic during Storm Éowyn in Lahinch, Co Clare
Dr Darius Ceburnis from University of Galway looks after the Ceann Mhasa Atmospheric Research Station and speaking to the Claire Byrne Show a few minutes ago he said that wind speed records were always going to be broken and it was a question of when and not if. “It was coming because for years and years it was recording the highest wind speed in almost every storm. So it was coming, but we didn’t know how bad it would be,” he said.
Iarnród Éireann has warned there will be no trains will be operating until further notice. As the status red alert begins to clear, crews will start checking and clearing lines but the company warned that it expects “many fallen trees, damage to level crossings/overhead lines”.
Some interesting numbers from the people at Flightradar here although I suspect they are underestimating the number of cancellations to and from Dublin.
A Ryanair flight from London to Edinburgh has diverted to Cologne.
We have some more updates from the forecasters and about ESB power outages.
According to Liz Coleman of Met Éireann the strongest winds at the moment “are being felt in the north and northwest as the centre of the low-pressure system pulls away towards Scotland”.
However, she warned people “not to become complacent – there’s still a lot of impacts there out on the roads” adding that any trees compromised in the red-wind scenario could come down easier in the orange warning.
“There still are further impacts to be expected across the country,” Ms Walsh said.
She described the storm as “an exceptional storm, record-breaking from a wind-speed perspective. We have recorded the highest wind gusts and mean wind speed”.
When it comes to ESB power outages, Brian Tapley of ESB Networks said these were “widespread, countrywide and extensive”.
He said engineers were “dealing with extreme danger calls, safety calls that come in. We are attending those and we are making them safe but in terms of, you know, full-damage assessments, that won’t start properly until the red levels lift”.
Carlow, Cork, Kerry, Kilkenny, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford are no longer under red wind warnings. It is still dangerous out there.
The scale of the damage across the country is starting to become clearer – the GAA centre of excellence in Mayo has been badly hit.
The status red wind warning will be lifted for counties Carlow, Cork, Kerry, Kilkenny, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford at 10am while the rest of the country will remain under the highest warning level. It it important to note that although the red warnings may be lifted, they are being replaced with orange warnings and it will remain dangerous across the country for some time to come.
So, one minute you’re saying Dublin looks like it escaped the worst of the storm and the next you are looking at a social media post showing an ice rink in Blanchardstown effectively levelled by the wind.
The Taoiseach has urged people to stay at home in the face of what he described as an “historic storm”.
The Tánaiste has also called on people to avoid the outdoors for the next while.
Two Ryanair flights departed from Dublin Airport over the last few minutes, the first two planes to take off this morning. According to the Dublin Airport live departures board, one was bound for Birmingham and one had Faro as its destination. It will be interesting to see how many passengers were on board given that the entire country was under a red alert and people are still being urged to stay in place and avoid potentially dangerous travel.
On a normal Friday there might be 1,000 Dublin Buses travelling across the city. This morning that number is zero.
Important point being made by Met Éireann as parts of the country get ready to move from Red warnings to Orange ones.
On some levels Dublin appears to have escaped the worst of the storm so far but every now and then there is a gust and it is like the roof is going to come off. That is just one reason people should stay in place – the risk of falling trees and flying debris is real everywhere ... even if it looks relatively calm.
Harold’s Cross Rd has been closed after scaffolding collapsed.
The travel plans of thousands of people are up in the air this morning but what are your rights if you are one of them?
Which? Travel has this.
“Many Travellers will understandably be concerned about flight delays or cancellations as a result of Storm Éowyn.
“If your flight is cancelled or delayed, you’re unlikely to be owed compensation by the airline as weather events are considered ‘extraordinary circumstances’,” said Which travel expert Guy Hobbs. “Airlines should still be offering assistance, this could include free food and drink – usually in the form of vouchers – as well as overnight accommodation if it becomes necessary,” he said.
“If your flight is cancelled, your airline is legally obliged to find you alternative flights, including with rival carriers, as soon as possible, or you can opt to be refunded. If you take a refund, be aware that your airline will no longer need to assist you in completing your journey,” Mr Hobbs continued.
“If you’re travelling today, allow extra time for your journey and check with your airline for the latest updates before setting off. It’s also worth checking the terms of your travel insurance to see if you are able to recoup any other expenses you may incur as a result of the delays, such as car hire or airport parking fees.”
The Department of Housing has just confirmed that the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme will be available to provide support to those living in properties directly affected by Storm Éowyn.
It provides income-tested financial assistance to households affected by a severe weather event and is administered by the Community Welfare Service.
The scheme aims to lighten the hardship rather than provide full compensation for damage.
The scheme may cover:
- emergency support payments, such as food, clothing and personal items
- damage to your home and its essential contents, such as carpets, flooring, furniture, household appliances and bedding
- structural damage
The scheme does not cover:
- losses covered by an insurance policy
- loss of items deemed to be inessential or luxury items
- commercial, agricultural or business losses
- structural loss or damage to rented accommodation
- any additional properties that are not occupied and lived in as the primary residence
- repair or replacement of motor vehicles
The number of flights to and from Dublin Airport that have been cancelled has climbed to 230 with more likely to fall victim to the storm in the hours ahead.
ESB Networks has just given very bleak assessment of what lies ahead with the number of homes and businesses without power likely to rise well over the current number of 715,000 and some people likely to be without power for a week or even longer.
Brian Tapley, the ESB Networks regional manager, said only emergency calls could be answered until the end of the red-wind warning and said the Air Corps and Army would be called upon to help with the ESB power outages in the days ahead to help reconnect as many people as fast as possible.
“It’s widespread and the damage is extensive to the network,” he said. “It is going to be easily a week if not more before we have all customers restored and unfortunately that the figure of 715,000 will increase over the course of today because we’re still in the middle of the red alert.”
Mr Tapley said the ESB could only deal with emergency calls this morning and “will be doing our damage assessment in the afternoon as soon as the red alert passes”.
He said it would not be possible to give accurate restoration times on the ESB Powercheck website “probably until Saturday until we’ve put eyes on as much of our network as possible”.
He said all its crews were standing by and “plans have been stood up for a number of days now. We’ve reached out to other utilities in the UK and likewise they have with us so there’s a lot of impact to this storm not just in Ireland.
He said the ESB would also “get support from the Air Corps, the Army and will work closely with local authorities.
It is still looking very red all over Ireland as this map shows.
Some 93,000 homes and businesses across Northern Ireland are without electricity, and police there have said there are more than 70 reports of trees down and other obstructions on the roads. Flights have also been cancelled, including 16 departures and 16 arrivals at Belfast International Airport and 23 departures and 20 arrivals at Belfast City Airport.
Irish Water has said that water-treatment plants that serve around 115,000 homes have lost power. While the plants have reserves, people have been asked to conserve water over the day to ensure that the reserves don’t run out. People can find real-time information on the supply in their area here.
The full statement from ESB Networks paints a very grim picture of what is happening across the country right now.
“Extreme, damaging and destructive winds associated with Storm Éowyn have continued to cause widespread and extensive damage to the electricity network across the country with over 715,000 homes, farms and businesses (as at 8am) without power.
“With Met Éireann Status Red and Orange wind warnings remaining in place for the entire country until later this afternoon, more power outages can be expected throughout the day as the storm tracks northwards.
“At current numbers, the damage to the electricity network and impact on customers has been unprecedented. ESB Networks continue to closely monitor the storm impact on power supplies and all available resources stand ready to mobilise once safe to do so.
“From our experience of previous significant weather events and due to the severity of Storm Éowyn, we expect that power restoration will take a significant number of days.
“Given the extent of the damage nationwide estimated restoration times (ERTs) will only be provided once our teams have assessed network faults and these will then be available to view throughout Saturday on www.PowerCheck.ie.
“Our customer contact centre agents will be supporting customers throughout Storm Éowyn but will not be in a position to provide outage information until the network assessment has been fully conducted.
“An Important Public Safety Message: If you come across fallen wires or damaged electricity network, never, ever touch or approach these as they are LIVE and extremely dangerous. Please report any damage to electricity infrastructure by calling 1800 372 999.”
At least 715,000 homes and businesses around the Republic are currently without power, the ESB have just confirmed. To put that number into context, just under 400,000 homes and businesses were left without power during Storms Darragh and Ophelia. ESB Networks is also warning that the number is likely to increase.
It’s pretty wild in Clare this morning.
Unprecedented and widespread is how the ESB is describing the outages across the State as day breaks, and while a fresh update is due in the next few minutes, as of now well over half a million properties are without power.
Public transport has ground to a halt across the country with plans to get things moving again in at least some parts of the country from around midday although that is by no means set in stone.
A serious road incident has been reported in Lifford in Co Donegal.
“Unfortunately we are attending a serious road traffic collision on the N14, just north of Lifford,” said Supt Liam Geraghty.
“We’re not in a position to give any more details at the moment until we get to the scene and we assess what has happened. This does exemplify that this is a very dangerous and life-threatening storm. This incident actually happened in an Orange wind warning in the Donegal area which has now gone to a red warning. Our appeal to people is to shelter.”
Some 600 people are in Dublin Airport’s two terminals this morning compared to around 10,000 that might there on any other Friday.
The DAA’s Graeme McQueen said that “planes can’t take off and land at the moment so nothing is happening and we’re not expecting anything certainly before just before 9am.”
He said that was when the first scheduled departure is at the moment “but given the way the winds are at the moment that’s a wait and see”.
The airlines are meeting now “to decide on their schedules for the rest of the day,” McQueen said as he urged people “to keep in touch with the airlines to find out what the status is of their flight [and] if they’re flying today”.
The vast, vast majority of flights to and from Dublin up to 9.30am have now been cancelled with many others after that point also gone.
Dublin Fire Brigade has just published an interactive map of storm-related incidents across the county.
Sheila Kavanagh from Vodafone has been on the radio saying that around 90,000 of its customers are without home broadband as a result of power outages while around 10 per cent of its mobile network sites are currently offline.
She noted that it is a “fast-progressing storm so we anticipate that the storm will pass quickly and obviously – and only when it’s safe to do so – we will be dispatching our field teams. We have tripled our field resources [so we] can deal with this storm as quickly as possible and recover services.”
The storm is still raging all over the country but as the morning progresses it will be a country of two halves with the worst still to come for the northern half of the island and a slow – very slow – easing further south.
It is important to stress that red warnings are still in place for the whole country but from around 10am winds to the south will “gradually ease”, according to forecaster Gerry Murphy.
“The main message is that north of that line roughly from West Clare to Dublin over the coming hours the winds are going to increase further.”
We are not there yet, not by a long shot.
And all the authorities are warning that even when the red warnings are lifted, the country will be under an orange warning for much of the day.
It would be impossible to detail all the roads blocked right now as a result of fallen trees but a snapshot does indicate how widespread the problems are.
The N59 on the Skreen side of Dromore West in Sligo is impassable as a result of a fallen tree. Wires are down on the same road on the approach to Ballisodare
There are multiple trees down on the N4 close to Newtownforbes, Co Longford, with the village blocked on both sides.
Most roads out of Longford have trees down while multiple incidents have also been reported in Athlone and across Dublin.
As of now, the entire island of Ireland is under a status red wind warning as a result of Storm Éowyn.
If you live close to a building site and have cranes towering over you, Sean Downey from the Construction Industry Federation has some words of comfort.
Speaking on Morning Ireland he said although “cranes would be something that would be certainly very visible if you’re living near a site that has cranes ... that’s probably something that people look at and might have a concern about. But that would not be something that would be a big concern for me. It is something that people take into account whenever they’re building the site.
“They’re traditionally part of the permanent structure of the foundations as they’re being erected and they’re actually built to withstand very, very strong winds so I would not be concerned with that at all.”
Ireland West Airport in Co Mayo will be “non-operational” until 1pm, and the airport has said all passengers due to travel on flights scheduled between 8am and 2pm should not to travel to the airport. “The terminal building will not be accessible to members of the public during this time,” it said.
Galway is a hardy old place and used to big storms, but things were looking very bad in Salthill overnight.
This tweet from Met Éireann will give you a sense of just how bad things are getting.
The senior forecaster at Met Éireann, Gerry Murphy, has just issued a sobering assessment of what is happening and what is to come with more structural damage, more power outages and more disruption on the way in the hours ahead
Speaking on Morning Ireland he said Éowyn was an “extreme storm and it has already broken records for the all-time mean wind speed and all-time gust for Ireland.”
At Mace Head in Galway at 4am there was a mean speed of 135km/h which breaks the previous record of 131km/h and at 5am there was a gust of 183km/h, which breaks the previous record of 182km/h.
“This is a very, very serious storm [and] the winds are very, very strong. As you’d expect they are strongest over the western half of the country but they’re going to be very strong right the way up through the midlands as well,” he said.
“This morning we can expect further power outages because the winds are not yet at their strongest over counties over the northern half of the country [and] as you go through the midlands in particular and especially the north midlands through the morning those winds are going to increase. In fact they’re going to increase over much of the northern half of the country.”
He said “structural damage is almost inevitable really [and] the messaging of the red warnings is to adhere to those diligently and to stay at home this morning because it is a very, very stormy morning ... people need to take the utmost care. It will all be over by mid afternoon so it’s not much to give up on a morning in order to stay safe.”
A status red wind warning is now in effect for 25 counties, with Donegal and Northern Ireland to fall into the same category at 7am.
Flights to and from Shannon Airport have been cancelled with gusts of almost 140km/h recorded there this morning. In a statement, the airport has said it “remains open and our staff continue to monitor this extreme weather event. Our full schedule will resume once weather conditions permit”.
It is worth noting that hurricane-force winds will sweep over parts of the West, northwest and north this morning.
More than half a million homes and businesses are currently without power across the country. According to the most recent data, 560,000 properties have no electricity right now with few – if any – counties escaping outages.
In a statement, ESB Networks said its teams will commence restoring power where safe to do so
“There has been unprecedented, widespread and extensive damage to electricity infrastructure so far with power outages nationwide affecting 560,000 customers as of 6am; we anticipate significant further outages as Storm Éowyn moves across the country
“An Important Public Safety Message: If you come across fallen wires or damaged electricity network, never, ever touch or approach these as they are live and extremely dangerous. Please report any damage to electricity infrastructure by calling 1800 372 999
“ESB Networks crews and partner contractors will be deployed when safe to do so, to assess the network and work to safely restore power as quickly as possible in challenging conditions.”
Red wind warnings have just come into force for Cavan, Monaghan, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow, Roscommon and Tipperary.
This is only the third time Met Éireann has issued the highest-level alert for the entire country.
The first was during Storm Ophelia in 2017 and then again for Storm Emma in 2018. Donegal will be the last county where the weather warnings are lifted with the red alert valid there until 3pm on Friday.
“This is a storm like no storm you have ever experienced in Ireland,” Alan O’Reilly from Carlow Weather says.
The most recent update from Dublin Airport will not make for happy reading for anyone coming or going this morning.
And another wind record has just been broken, this time in Foynes, Co Limerick, where a gust of 183km/h has just been recorded.
Carlow Weather is reporting that Storm Éowyn has just broken the record gust for Ireland, one that has stood for almost a century. According to data just published from Met Éireann a gust of 183km/h was recorded at Mace Head in Galway at 5am. The old record stood since 1945 was 182km/h and recorded at Foynes. At the risk of stating the very obvious, this is going to be a big, big storm.
At least 200 flights to and from Dublin Airport have already been cancelled this morning. Every flight due to depart until 8.45am has been cancelled with the exception of one flight to Abu Dhabi at 8.25am which currently has a delayed status and a Tenerife-bound flight due to leave at 8.45 also “delayed”.
It is interesting, perhaps, that the only airline that is currently listing most of its flights in the hours after 9am as being on schedule is Ryanair.
It is even worse when it comes to arrivals with nothing coming in until after 9am, according to the Live Arrivals board on the Dublin Airport website right now. People hoping to travel are being advised to keep in close contact with their airlines before heading to that airport – or any airport in the country.
Red weather alerts are now in place across much of Ireland with Storm Éowyn battering the country in a big way right now and gusts of over 170km/h reported in the West overnight. While the entire island will come under the highest level of wind warnings in the next couple of hours, as it stands, the red alerts are in place for Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Clare, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo.
The highest winds recorded so far were in Ceann Mhása in Connemara, Co Galway, where gusts as high as 174km/h have been recorded.
The ESB’s PowerCheck website is currently showing outages all over the country with at least 150,000 homes and businesses without power as of now.
