Updated 13:10pm

STRONG GALE FORCE winds and floods across the country have caused widespread damage to the phone and electricity network overnight with some 35,000 people without power and 7,500 without telephone and broadband service.

This morning, some 70,000 people were without power but the supply has now been restored to around 35,000, ESB said.

“This is the worst storm in 15 years,” it said in a statement this morning.

Meanwhile Eircom hs said that the storms left more than 7,000 people without telephone and broadband service with this figure expected to rise as the bad weather continues.

“The impact on our network is widespread but the worst impacted areas are Cork, Galway, Mayo, Kilkenny, Carlow and Wexford,” the company said in a statement. “Working conditions in many areas of the country remain extremely difficult as a result of the dangerously high winds and lightning. These conditions are hampering our repair efforts in some areas of the country.”

Both companies sought to assure customers that crews working hard today to restore services.

First published 7:02 am

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