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Fire crews are busy this morning as they inspect damage on Kevin Street in Dublin
AS IT HAPPENED

As it happened: Storm Isha aftermath and wind warnings for Storm Jocelyn tomorrow

The storm had a significant impact on travel around the country since last evening.

LAST UPDATE | 22 Jan

STORM ISHA HAS now passed – but it had a significant impact on travel, and tens of thousands of people have been left without power. 

There are further warnings now for Storm Jocelyn, with Status Orange warnings for the north-west tomorrow. 

As of midday today:

Updates from Rónán Duffy and Daragh Brophy. 

Good morning, 

The red and orange weather alerts for Storm Isha have now passed. 

A yellow wind warning remains in place for Clare, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo until 7pm this evening.

According to Met Éireann, people in the area are being advised to expect:

  • Large coastal waves with wave overtopping
  • Difficult travelling conditions
  • Debris, loose objects displaced

Around 170,000 customers – mostly in Mayo, Galway, Roscommon and Kerry – were left without electricity overnight. 

45,000 were left without power in Northern Ireland. 

In Co Mayo, a man in his 40s died in a single car crash on the N17 at Lisduff, Claremorris. 

Here are a few images and videos showing the impact of the storm over the last twelve hours or so: 

If you’re heading to work or dropping children to school this morning it’s still a good idea to be cautious of blocked roads or other debris.

Here’s what public transport operators are saying. 

Irish Rail

As of last night, Irish Rail said it was expecting its services to operate as normal but that it may update this advice from 7am, so we can keep an eye out for that soon. 

Bus Éireann

Some overnight services such as the 1.00am Donegal to Dublin service was cancelled ahead of time last night. A number of other services this morning have now been cancelled: 

Route: 109

  • 07:35 Dunshaughlin to Dublin - Cancelled.

Route: 115

  • 06:00 Dublin to Enfield - Cancelled
  • 07:15 Mullingar to Maynooth - Cancelled

Route: NX

  • 06:44 Dublin to Navan - Cancelled

The general advice to customers is to plan their journey and check for updates. 

Dublin Bus

We do have a morning update from Dublin Bus and it’s good news, as of 6.15am the company says its services are operating normally. 

PastedImage-29097 Dublin Bus Dublin Bus

Dublin Airport

There were a whole host of flight diversions and cancellations yesterday, we’ll go into that in more detail later. 

For now the operator of Dublin Airport is saying that flights are operating as normal this morning but to keep checking with your airline if you’re departing. 

235,000 electricity customers without power 

ESB Networks has confirmed that some 235,000 homes farms and businesses are without power across the country after Storm Isha tracked across Ireland.

The worst impacted counties were Mayo, Galway, Roscommon and Kerry, with crews working to repair the outages.

Here’s a rundown of what we know about electricity outages so far. 

29 flight cancellations at Dublin Airport 

Even though Dublin Airport has said that services are operating as normal today, some knock-on effects from yesterday has meant that 29 flights due today have been cancelled, that’s 16 arrivals and 13 departures cancelled

Essentially, diverted aircraft never made it to the airport where they were due to depart from today. 

There are no flight cancellations at Cork Airport today.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, DAA spokesperson Kevin Cullinane said: 

“Our advice for passengers traveling today is to arrive normally, two hours before short-haul flights, three hours for longhaul flights. We will obviously be waiving any additional car parking fees for any of those 20,000 or so passengers that were discommoded yesterday.”

Woman killed in road crash

A woman in her 20s has died following a crash in Co Louth overnight. 

It happened at Carnalogue, around 12km to the west of Dundalk, at around 1.50am when a van collided with a tree.

The woman who died was a passenger in the vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

A second passenger, a man in his 20s, was treated at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda for injuries which are not believed to be life-threatening.

No other injuries were reported, according to a statement from gardaí this morning. 

“The woman’s body remains at the scene this morning and a technical examination will be carried out by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators later today. Local diversions are currently in place,” the statement said. 

“Gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed this collision to contact them.

“Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and who were travelling in the area at the time, are asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.

“Anyone with any information is asked to contact Ardee Garda Station on 041 685 3222, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.”

In Co Mayo yesterday evening, a man in his 40s died in a single car crash on the N17 at Lisduff, Claremorris. 

Storm Isha has also had a major impact on Britain – particularly in Scotland. 

According to the PA news agency, ScotRail services have been suspended since 7pm on and are not expected to resume until around noon as dozens of lines are closed due to fallen trees and flooding.

a-message-displayed-on-the-big-screen-informing-supporters-of-rail-service-suspensions-due-to-storm-isha-during-the-scottish-cup-fourth-round-match-at-celtic-park-glasgow-scotland-picture-date-sun A message displayed on the big screen informing supporters of rail service suspensions due to Storm Isha during the Scottish Cup fourth round match at Celtic Park, Glasgow. PA Images PA Images

Here at home, Irish Rail is reporting delays on many routes this morning with reduced capacity on some services. 

Some pictures from yesterday as the clean up begins today. 

Lisburn Road in Belfast 

a-tree-branch-fallen-on-a-car-on-lisburn-road-in-belfast-during-storm-isha-a-status-red-wind-warning-has-been-issued-for-counties-donegal-galway-and-mayo-as-authorities-warn-people-to-take-care-ahea Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Eyre Square in  Galway

a-clock-tower-falls-to-the-ground-in-eyre-square-galway-during-storm-isha-a-status-red-wind-warning-has-been-issued-for-counties-donegal-galway-and-mayo-as-authorities-warn-people-to-take-care-ahe Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Tragumna in West Cork

tragumna-west-cork-ireland-sunday-20th-january-2024-storm-isha-started-to-batter-the-coast-at-tragumna-west-cork-this-afternoon-driven-by-70knot-winds-and-a-high-tide-the-sea-wall-at-tragumna-was Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

We mentioned earlier about passengers on Dublin-bound flights yesterday that were instead flown to airports across the UK and continental Europe due to the inability to land here. 

One of the most talked about examples is the Copenhagen to Dublin flight which ended up in Liverpool after attempts to land in Dublin failed and a diversion to Manchester also failed. 

There have been some complaints about how and why Sligo was not placed uder a Status Red warning yesterday like its neighbours Mayo and Donegal. 

The county was under a Status Orange warning but some of the damage has been signficant. 

The Southern Hotel in Sligo appears to have lost part of its roof. 

Some more quick transport updates.  

In terms of Bus Éireann services, there are a number of new cancellations since our last update. 

Route 111

  • 07:45 Athboy to Dublin – Cancelled

Route 161

  • Unable to operate between Carlingford and Newry due to fallen trees

Route 168

  • Unable to operate due to a number of fallen trees

Route 462

  • Route 462 will operate with diversions due to road closure at Ballygawley, missing Cooloney stops

Route 480

  • 07:30 Ballybofey to Derry – cancelled due to fallen trees
  • 08:30 Derry to Ballybofey – cancelled due to fallen trees

Route 494

  • Route 494 is currently unable to operate due to fallen trees in the area

 

Iarnród Éireann 

The 7.15am Westport to Dublin service only made it past Castlebar before it was stopped due to a signal failure. It has now resumed its journey after a 45 minute delay. 

15 flights diverted to Shannon, normal services today

A spokesperson for The Shannon Airport Group has confirmed that 15 commercial flight diversions were facilitated at Shannon Airport yesterday and early this morning due to Storm Isha.

“Shannon Airport was fully operational yesterday and last night, operating our normal schedule and available to accept aircraft diversions throughout Storm Isha,” a spokesperson said today. 

“Our airport staff worked tirelessly yesterday and throughout the night to facilitate flights impacted by Storm Isha, managing 15 flight diversions yesterday and overnight. We expect to operate a normal flight schedule today, and we remain available to facilitate further diversions if required.”

Flights from Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Luxembourg, Poland, and the UK diverted to Shannon Airport during the course of the Storm.

In total, ten flights due to land at Dublin Airport and four flights originally due to land at Cork airport diverted to Shannon. In addition, an Edinburgh bound flight which took off from Stansted diverted to Shannon at 02:37 this morning. All 15 flights landed safely.

The morning after the night before… 

Crews are busy this morning and the sound of chainsaws fills the air. 

Keith Leonard, National Director of Fire and Emergency Management has a warning this morning for anyone who may be considering doing some cleaning up of desbris in their own property. 

Basically, be careful:  

This was on the upper end of the storms in recent months. Just a small point as well that’s important as we move into the cleanup now. That time can be quite hazardous, particularly for people who are working alone, people who might be tempted to get up on a ladder now today to check their roof, people who are taking out a chainsaw and who haven’t taken it out for for a long time.

“So we just appeal to people, particularly the loan workers this morning, to take care and just be as cautious as they possibly can be.”

Dublin Airport terminals ‘extra busy’ today

Dublin Airport’s terminals are to be “extra busy” today according to its operator, with some passengers continuing to be impacted by cancellations in the wake of Storm Isha.

The DAA said that 29 flights have been cancelled so far today, including 16 arrivals into the airport, and 13 departure flights.

Though the strong winds of the storm have eased, some aircraft are still “out of position” today, which will impact flight schedules.

A spokesperson said that passengers scheduled to fly out of Dublin Airport are advised to “check directly with their airline regarding the status of their flight”.

Yesterday, 148 flights were cancelled at Dublin Airport, including 75 incoming and 73 departing flights. 35 flights were diverted to other airports. 

Update on one of the country’s busiest commuter routes here from Irish Rail. 

New Status Yellow wind warning

Status Yellow wind warnings remain in effect along the western seaboard from Clare to Donegal and in Northern Ireland today. 

There is however now a further Status Yellow warning for the whole of Ireland as more stormy weather approaches. 

It’s not a named storm yet but Met Éireann is warning of strong winds on Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning. 

Storm Jocelyn named

Storm Jocelyn has now been named for tomorrow Tuesday with Orange warnings issued for Donegal, Galway and Mayo. 

PastedImage-11982 Met Éireann Met Éireann

ESB says it may take days to restore power to some customers

As of 10am, approximately 190,000 homes, farms and businesses are without power. It’s a fall from the heights of 235,000 who were without power in the immediate aftermath of Storm Isha.

In the North, up to 40,000 premises are reported as being without power.

The ESB has said that while a high number of customers will have their electricity restored today, it may be tomorrow or even Wednesday for some.

Here’s the UK Met Office confirming that Storm Jocelyn has been named by their Irsh countterparts Met Éireann. 

Thiis graphic shows Jocelyn tracking northwards over Ireland, with the north of the country consequentially set to get the worst of it tomorrow evening and into Wednesday. 

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