Around 68,000 without power as Storm Jocelyn to bring more disruption
Isha Cork Power Storm Picture Of On Esb Lines South Ballinlough Dan Road, Linehan On The Crews Broken As Hits Working The The Country
Around 68,000 homes, farms and businesses remain without power on Monday evening as parts of the country continue the cleanup from Storm Isha and prepare for the arrival of Storm Jocelyn.
The storm brought high winds overnight with Clew Bay recording the strongest gust at 150km/h.
ESB Networks say that "all available ESB Networks resources, along with our partner contractors, will work into the night to safely restore power to as many customers as possible before mobilising again at first light tomorrow."
However, due to the scale of the damage to the electricity network, many customers will remain without power tonight while some customers will be without power for a number of days.
The areas where customers will remain without supply overnight are predominantly in the Northwest of the country including counties Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo.
Fresh status orange weather warnings have been issued as a new weather front moves towards the west coast, bringing "strong southwest to west winds with severe and damaging gusts".
ESB said that
approximately 167,000 homes, farms and businesses have had their power restored since the warnings expired.
On Tuesday, Storm Jocelyn will bring further risk of large waves along coastal areas, difficult travelling conditions, fallen trees, damage to power lines, and possible damage to already weakened structures.
Status orange wind warnings will be in place on Tuesday from 6pm until midnight for Galway and Mayo, and from 6pm on Tuesday until 2am on Wednesday for Donegal.
A number of status yellow wind warnings are due to come into effect on Tuesday and into Wednesday.
These include:
- Wind warning for Donegal, Leitrim, and Sligo from 12pm to 5am
- Wind warning for Clare, Kerry, Galway, and Mayo from 12pm to 2am
- Wind warning for Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, and Roscommon from 5pm to 2am
Uisce Éireann says around 35,000 people were affected by Storm Isha, mainly in May, Donegal and parts of the south-east.
The utility says it is continuing to work on any outstanding supply interruptions caused by storm damage to water treatment infrastructure.
Currently, there are 11 water supply schemes affected with services staff working to make repairs to plants and the network.
Cork City Fire Brigade responded to over 50 incidents last night, said second officer Victor Shine.
In Donegal, the director of service for roads and transport Bryan Cannon said Donegal County Council will meet this morning to respond to the aftermath of the storm.
The Road Safety Authority advised all road users to be aware of the dangers once the storm has passed as there may be hazardous conditions such as flooded roads and downed pylons, lines, trees and other debris on roads.
Two people have died in separate road incidents that took place as weather warnings were in place: a man aged in his 40s died in Claremorris in Co Mayo at around 6.15pm on Sunday, when a status red alert was in place.
A woman aged in her 20s, who was a passenger in a van, died after it hit a tree in Carnalogue, Co Louth at 1.50am on Monday.
A man in his 60s was also killed in a crash involving two vans and a fallen tree in Limavady, Co Derry, on Sunday night, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said.
The man who died was driving a Vauxhall Vivaro van on Broad Road at around 9.45pm on Sunday.
Iarnród Éíreann reports that their services are operating on all routes, however, delays can be expected due to fallen trees, debris and flooding, which crews are working to clear.
The Kildare to Newbridge route is experiencing delays due to flooding on the line while the Dundalk and Belfast route is impeded due to fallen trees.
Reduced capacity will operate on the following services:
- 11:25 Cork / Heuston
- 14:25 Cork/Heuston
- 11:05 Galway/Heuston
- 15:30 Heuston/Limerick
- 20:15 Heuston / Carlow
- 21:36 Carlow / Heuston
- 23:10 Heuston / Kildare
Dublin Airport has 29 cancelled flights on Monday.
Sunday was a chaotic day for air travel but media relations manager with the daa, Graeme McQueen, said things are improving.
"We had about 170 flights cancelled by airlines over the course of Sunday," he said.
"Much improved today, the winds have dropped considerably but there is still some disruption today.
"A lot of aircraft are around the place off the back of yesterday so the planes didn't get back to Dublin in time."
The daa is advising passengers to arrive at their terminal two hours before short-haul flights and three hours before long-haul journeys.
Cork Airport remained open and operational throughout Sunday, but Storm Isha resulted in 14 cancellations into and out of the airport.
Communications Manager at Cork Airport Barry Holland confirmed that eight outbound flights and six inbound services were cancelled on Sunday, including six diversions and seven go-arounds.
Operations are scheduled to continue as normal on Monday.
“Passengers intending to travel today [Monday] are advised to check the status of their flight with their airline directly,” Mr Holland said.
Shannon Airport said it handled 15 flights diverted from other airports because of the storm.
The Shannon Airport group said it remained fully operational throughout yesterday and overnight, running its normal schedule throughout.
It expects a normal flight schedule today but said it remains available to facilitate more diversions if needed.
Passengers flying out of any Irish airport are advised to check directly with their airline, regarding the status of their flight this morning.
Overall, people can expect better weather today but it is important to take care as the damage of Storm Isha will continue to impact travel conditions.
"The winds have eased this morning but it will still be a very windy day with a mix of sunny spells and showers," said Alan O'Reilly from Carlow Weather.
"An improving situation but still some strong winds. There may still be trees and debris that are loose that could be brought down this morning.
"People should take great care this morning as overnight there will be a lot of debris on the roads."
There will be a chance of hail and isolated thunderstorms in some places but most places will become dry this evening.
There will be some rain and drizzle overnight spreading northeastwards to all areas.
Strong gusty winds will become calm for a time but a strong southerly wind will develop later in the night.
Tuesday is set to be another wet and windy day with widespread rain during the morning and afternoon, followed by scattered showers in the evening.
Check out the Irish Examiner's WEATHER CENTRE for regularly updated short and long range forecasts wherever you are.