Dozens of flights cancelled to and from Ireland on SaturdayMajor disruption to public transport Work to restore power to premises may take ‘number of days’ – ESB
Storm Darragh causes power outages and damage across Ireland
Around 325,000 homes, businesses and farms remained without power on Saturday in the aftermath of Storm Darragh with restoration work expected to take a number of days.
395,000 customers woke up without power this morning and around 70,000 have since had power restored.
All weather warnings have now expired as the storm passes and work is under way to restore power to the impacted households.
Mace Head in Co Galway saw gusts of 141kmh recorded by Met Éireann. Gusts of 120kmh were reported at Shannon in Co Clare and gusts of 115kmh were reported in Co Cork.
The ESB has said the impact of Storm Darragh was greater than that of Storm Ophelia in 2017, when 385,000 customers experienced power cuts.
“Significant numbers of impacted customers will have their power restored throughout today but restoration efforts will take a number of days and it is likely that the areas worst affected will take longer,” an ESB statement read.
There was significant disruption to public transport with fallen trees leading to cancellations and delays for both bus and rail services. A number of Dublin-Belfast trains were cancelled.
The rail line between Howth Junction and Malahide was closed this morning due to fallen trees, and later reopened with delays of more than an hour for Dart, northern commuter and Dublin-Belfast services.
A number of sailings to the UK and France were cancelled by Irish Ferries. Dublin Airport was fully operational on Saturday but some flights were cancelled this morning including British Airways flights to and from Heathrow, and Air France flights to and from Paris.
Another 13 flights to other airports in Ireland were diverted to Dublin and 12 flights in and out of Cork Airport were cancelled overnight and earlier on Saturday.
Local authorities across the country continued to work clearing fallen trees and debris, with many fallen trees reported in counties Cork, Kerry, Sligo and Galway.
A meeting was held this morning between the National Directorate of Fire and Emergency Management, Met Éireann and other stakeholders to discuss the damage caused by Storm Darragh.
While the brunt of the storm has now passed, the director of the NDFEM Keith Leonard urged the public “to continue to take care in the aftermath of the storm”.
“In particular, motorists should avoid take extra care as there are fallen trees reported all across the country with many roads closed. Ideally, I would advise drivers not to travel today unless necessary and to check your route in advance if you have to head out,” he said.
A man in Lancashire in the UK died after a tree fell onto his van while he was driving on a dual carriageway. Gusts of up to 146kmh have been reported in some parts of the UK and millions of people have been told to remain indoors.
