AROUND 25,000 homes, farms and businesses are without power due to the impacts of Storm Bram and ESB has warned that “further power outages can be expected”.

The entire country was under a Status Orange wind warning for a time today and this alert remained in place in Co Donegal up until 9pm.

Donegal, alongside Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo, remain under a Status Yellow wind warning until midnight.

As of 8pm this evening, ESB Networks said 25,000 customers were without power and that Storm Bram had caused “substantial damage to the electricity network”.

ESB said these outages were mainly confined to counties Dublin, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Tipperary, Wexford and Wicklow.

ESB said the majority of outages are due to fallen trees, which in turn caused power lines to come down.

There was a time today when around 54,000 customers were without power.

Meanwhile, given that a Status Yellow warning remains in place in several counties until midnight, ESB said the “dynamic nature of the event” means that “further power outages can be expected”.

A spokesperson said ESB crews and partner contractors have been deployed throughout the day to assess the damage, make the network safe and restore electricity supply in challenging conditions.

The spokesperson said crews continued the restoration for as long as possible this evening and will restart at first light tomorrow morning.

However, ESB said that given the impact of Storm Bram and the “limited time to carry out repair work”, some customers will remain without power overnight.  

“We acknowledge the disruption to family and commercial life this causes and thank impacted customers for their patience as our crews work to safely restore power,” said ESB.

ESB added that it will update estimated restoration times as soon as it has assessed the network damage and that these will be available to view on www.PowerCheck.ie.    

Customers are also advised to sign up for ESB’s “Keep me Updated” service for power outages on www.PowerCheck.ie to receive these updates directly.      

Meanwhile, ESB has reminded the public to never touch or approach fallen wires or damaged electricity networks as they are live and extremely dangerous.

Any such damage to electricity infrastructure should be reported by calling 1800 372 999.