ESB repair crews have begun restoring power to around 5,000 homes and businesses throughout Co Cork after a series of lightning strikes across the county knocked out many transformers.
Among the worst hit areas were Macroom in mid-Cork where some 3,000 premises were left without power while 787 premises in Dunmanway in West Cork were also in the dark.
The area around Béal na Bláth in Mid-Cork was also impacted with over 400 premises affected while further north in the county, homes around Donoughmore, Grenagh and Whitechurch were also hit.
Across West Cork there were also reports of outages with homes in Kilbrittain and Timoleague as well as Skibbereen and Barleycove, further west all reporting power loss at various stages.
Faye O’Rourke’s Christmas: ‘I have a reputation for overdoing it. I splash out. It’s not in my control’
‘I know what happened in that room’: the full story of the Conor McGregor case
Ukraine fears nuclear plants are in Russia’s sights as missile strikes bring winter blackouts
Goodbye to the 46A: End of legendary Dublin bus route made famous in song
ESB Networks also confirmed that there had been a power outage in Sneem in Co Kerry which left over 70 premises in the area without power, but it’s hoped to have power there restored shortly.
The outages are weather related and follow a sustained bout of thunder and lightning which was also evident in Cork City and further east as the weather front moved across the county.
The thunder and lightning were accompanied by torrential rain which led to some spot flooding on roads in both the side and county though there were no reports of any serious incidents.