Advertisement

Thousands of homes and businesses remain without power in wake of Storm Callum

Updated 16:45 Some 5,000 homes, farms and businesses remain without power as high winds form...
Newstalk
Newstalk

06.58 12 Oct 2018


Share this article


Thousands of homes and busines...

Thousands of homes and businesses remain without power in wake of Storm Callum

Newstalk
Newstalk

06.58 12 Oct 2018


Share this article


Updated 16:45

Some 5,000 homes, farms and businesses remain without power as high winds form Storm Callum battered coastal areas last night.

Status Orange warnings were in place in coastal regions around the country overnight - however the last of these has now been lifted.

Advertisement

The storm caused transport disruption and power outages across the country this morning. 

Met Éireann says a gust of 67 knots (124 km/h) was recorded in Belmullet, Co Mayo shortly before 7:30am this morning.

However, the National Emergency Coordination Group said the damage was kept to a minimum and most coastal areas were protected from flooding.

This evening the ESB said crews were making good process in restoring power to households across the country and said it expects to be working at full capacity by this evening.

Around 60,000 households were without power this morning - however that figure is now down to 5,000.

ESB spokesperson Paul Hand said the south west of the country “got a fair hit but there are also still outages really up along the western seaboard.”

“Up to County Mayo; some outages still in Kilkenny as well,” he said.

“The north eastern segment of the country escaped unscathed but south west and south east as well as the northwest, up around Mayo and Donegal, were affected pretty badly.”

After meeting this morning, the group said: "Storm Callum tracked as forecast by Met Éireann with the worst of the storm affecting the west coast and fortunately did not hit in all areas as hard as it could have, resulting in minimal disruption." 

Transport disruption

Aer Lingus cancelled a number of flights from Dublin Airport this morning, while Irish Ferries cancelled its scheduled sailings between Holyhead and Dublin until this afternoon.

Shannon Airport, meanwhile, said morning flights largely operated "to, or ahead, of schedule", but one flight had been diverted to Dublin overnight.

Irish Rail, meanwhile, also said there was disruption to rail services due to the storm.

The company warned passengers to expect delays to both DART and Intercity services today:

Fallen trees are still causing problems on some roads, with drivers being urged to take care.


Share this article


Read more about

News

Most Popular