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Storm Eunice: Gusts of 137km/h reported as Status Yellow warning in place overnight

Updated / Friday, 18 Feb 2022 21:04
A house in Cobh, Co Cork was struck by a falling tree earlier this morning (Image: Ellen O'Regan)
A house in Cobh, Co Cork was struck by a falling tree earlier this morning (Image: Ellen O'Regan)

Thousands of homes and businesses remain without power this evening, as Storm Eunice continues to track across the country.

A Status Yellow snow and ice warning will remain in place for all of Ireland until 10am tomorrow.

Earlier today, a council worker in his late 50s was killed by a falling tree while out working to clear debris caused by the storm.

Roches Point in Cork was the windiest location in the country, with gusts as high as 137km/h and sustained wind speeds of 93km/h at 9am this morning

ESB Networks has said that there are currently 28,000 customers without power, mainly in the southwest, with around 12,000 to be without power overnight.

"That's predominantly in the south, south Kerry, west Cork part of the country," ESB spokesman Brian Tapley said.

"But also there's a good number of customers without power in the southeast and Enniscorthy part of the country."

"We are actively working to repair those faults. We expect significant numbers of customers will be back tonight, but in those areas I mentioned, given the sheer volume of outages and the work to be done, there will be pockets of customers that unfortunately will be able to overnight."

A number of flights and ferry crossings have been cancelled as Storm Eunice tracks across Ireland.

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The Daa has said 43 flights were cancelled in to and out of Dublin Airport today.

Some transatlantic flights were cancelled this morning, including a United Airlines flight to Newark, an Air Canada flight to Toronto and an American Airlines flight to Philadelphia.

A number of flights to and from the UK were also cancelled, including Aer Lingus flights to Heathrow and Gatwick, and a British Airways flight to London City Airport.

A spokesperson for the Daa said all other flights are operating as scheduled, but delays are likely given the fact that the storm is moving eastwards, affecting the UK and continental Europe.

Passengers are advised to check with their airlines before travelling to the airport.

A number of ferry sailings to the UK, France and Spain from Rosslare have also been cancelled. All intending air and ferry passengers are advised to check what is going ahead with whoever they are booked with.

Motorists have been advised to exercise extreme caution with a significant number of fallen trees reported in the south and midwest.

It said falls of sleet and snow today and tomorrow, with accumulations in some areas and icy stretches, will lead to hazardous driving conditions.

Read more:
The short, sharp impact of Storm Eunice
Follow latest Storm Eunice updates
Watch: Storm Eunice tracks over Ireland

In an update this afternoon, the National Emergency Coordination Group said Eunice brought mean wind speeds of 106km/h, with a gust of 137km/h recorded at Roches Point.

It said there were some national and regional roads blocked as a result of fallen trees, with some structural damage to buildings and some coastal flooding. It said the south and southwest were worst affected.

Donegal County Council said a combination of rising temperatures and the efforts of maintenance crews have left all routes in the area passable this afternoon.

A number of roads on higher ground around in the west of the county and around Inishowen were impassable for a time this morning.

The council said it is continuing to monitor the situation, but the general feeling is that the county has fared a lot better than anticipated, given the weather warnings that were in place.

There was some very light snowfall around Sligo and some coastal flooding reported around high tide, but officials say it was nothing out of the ordinary, given the combination of spring tides and strong northwesterly winds.

Leitrim County Council crews cleared snow from a section of the R283 between Manorhamilton and Kiltyclogher this morning, but reported no other disruption to the road network.

In Roscommon, some snow stuck on high ground around the county, but all routes are passable.

In Co Waterford, high tide passed along coastal areas with no significant problems being reported.

A number of fallen trees have been reported and Waterford City and County Council has warned people to stay away from exposed areas, including coastlines, and to report any incidents of fallen trees or power lines while keeping a distance.

Iarnród Éireann said train services are operating on all routes.

Owen O'Shea, Communications officer with Kerry County Council, said there are a number of fallen trees, branches and electricity poles, either blocking or partially blocking roads.

"But they're primarily local and regional roads," he said.

Universities, schools and childcare services in nine counties under Red and Orange warnings were advised to close today.

There are reports of trees down in Co Offaly, including on the Kilbeggan road near Clara, where a power line is also reported to be down.

Weather warnings for Storm Eunice

Status Yellow snow and ice warning for Ireland
Valid until 10am Saturday

Status Yellow rain warning for Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo
Valid from 4pm Saturday until 4pm Sunday

Status Yellow wind warning for Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Donegal, Connacht
Valid from 9am Sunday to 9am Monday

Eunice is the sixth named storm of the season, and followed Dudley, which hit earlier this week.

The season began with Storm Arwen, which was named on 25 November.

The list of storm names are compiled by Met Éireann, the UK's Met Office and the Dutch national weather forecasting service KNMI, following submissions by members of the public.

The next storm is due to be named Franklin, followed by Gladys.

Additional reporting Conor Kane, Pat McGrath, PA

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