Storm Jocelyn to bring further disruption as crews work to repair power supplies

High winds with the potential for structural damage will affect all parts of the country as Storm Jocelyn becomes the latest storm of the season.

The 10th named storm of the current season, which began in September, will not be as intense as Storm Isha, but could cause further damage to trees and power lines that have already been weakened by high winds at the weekend.

It will also hamper attempts by ESB Network to restore power to thousands of homes which were cut off as a result of Storm Isha. Some 235,000 homes across the State lost power as a result of the storm and there were still 68,000 premises without power by 8.45pm on Monday. Around the same time, some 13,000 people were still without power in Northern Ireland.

A status orange level warning will be in place for Donegal from 6pm on Tuesday evening to 2am on Wednesday morning.

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A similar orange warning is in place for Galway and Mayo from 6pm on Tuesday to midnight on Wednesday.

The rest of the country will have a status yellow wind warning from Tuesday evening at 5pm into the early hours of Wednesday at 2am.

Along with high winds, there will be heavy rain in the morning and afternoon.

Met Éireann forecaster Aoife Kealy said there is a possibility that Storm Jocelyn will do more damage that would normally be expected because of the aftermath of Storm Isha.

At its height on Sunday night, Storm Isha was the most powerful wind on the planet with a maximum gust of 137km/h at Mace Head in Co Galway.

She said: “There will be trees that have been damaged that haven’t fallen and this new storm might be the final push.”

Ms Kealy said a strong jet stream is steering storms in the direction of Ireland and Britain and the rest of the week will be unsettled and windy.

Fellow forecaster Gerry Murphy said Storm Jocelyn will be a “significant weather event in itself”.

“Even a lesser event could be significant,” he said.

Three people died in separate incidents during Storm Isha. A woman died at 1.50am on Monday morning at Carnalogue in Co Louth when a van collided with a tree.

The woman, aged in her 20s, who was a passenger in the van received fatal injuries and was later pronounced dead at the scene.

At 6.15pm on Sunday night a man died when he drove into a flood on the N17 at Lisduff, Claremorris, Co Mayo.

Police in the North confirmed a man in his 60s died after his car crashed into a fallen tree in Co Derry.

[ In Pictures: Storm Isha  ]

[ Storm Isha: Family lose two days of trip to Lapland due to significant flight disruptions ]

He was the driver of a van which was involved a collision with a fallen tree and another van on Broad Road in Limavady at about 9.45pm on Sunday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed.

DUP councillor Stephen Callaghan, the mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens council, told the BBC: “It would be shocking to be waking up this morning to find out some of your loved ones haven’t made it home as a result of the storm.”

Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) Networks said on Monday afternoon about 17,000 customers remained without power, and 36,000 customers had been reconnected.

ESB Networks said the main areas impacted are predominantly in the northwest including counties Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Leitrim and Cavan. The damage is mainly attributable to fallen trees on overhead lines as a result of the high winds.

All available ESB Networks resources are now being deployed, along with assistance from partner contractors.

However, it warned that due to the severity of Storm Isha, full restoration of electricity supplies could take a number of days.

“While we continue to restore electricity to large numbers of customers, we expect to have significant numbers of customers without power tonight,” ESB Networks said in a statement.

“Given the extensive damage to the network, unfortunately some customers will be without power for a number of days. Orange- and yellow-level winds associated with Storm Jocelyn tomorrow [Tuesday] may hamper restoration efforts.”

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