LAST UPDATE | 7 Dec 2024

APPROXIMATELY 175,000 homes, businesses and farms are still without power following fierce winds and heavy rain caused by the arrival of Storm Darragh. 

Highest gusts of 141 km/h were recorded at Mace Head in Galway last night, with gusts of 120 km/h and 115 km/h recorded in Clare and Cork.

An Orange warning was in place until 10am this morning, with the Yellow wind warning lasting until 3pm.

A number of Status Red warnings for coastal counties were in effect last night, and expired at different times this morning.

The storm has caused widespread damage across Ireland. In Co Antrim, power generation facility EP Ballylumford reported damage to one of its chimneys. 

“The site has been made temporarily unavailable to the System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI), halting electricity generation while the team assesses and safely addresses the damage,” a spokesperson said.

Station manager at the facility, Tim McCollough, said that the company is fully committed to safely restoring operations.

“The safety of our staff and the integrity of our equipment are our top priorities, and we are working closely with all necessary parties to minimise any disruption to electricity supply,” he said.

In the UK, a man in his 40s died as a result of the storm after a tree fell onto his van while he was driving at 9am. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Power outages and water disruption

According to ESB Powercheck, 175,000 homes, businesses and farms remain without power, and there have been numerous reports of fallen trees and debris on the roads.

A spokesperson said that ESB Networks crews and contractors were assessing the damage and working to make the network safe and to restore supply. 

Power has been restored to 220,000 customers so far, the ESB spokesperson said, and works to restore power for those still affected continues.

Earlier today, the ESB confirmed that 395,000 customers had been impacted by outages at the peak of the storm.

Given the extent of the storm, estimated restoration times will be updated throughout the day as fault sites are assessed and restoration work progresses – these will be available on www.PowerCheck.ie.

 ESB Networks expect repairs to take a number of days, as a number of power lines were disrupted over the last 24 hours.

There are widespread power outages across the country, with western coastal counties the worst affected. In the North, close to 50,000 homes and businesses are without power.

A map of outages across the country. PowerCheck PowerCheck

Uisce Éireann – Ireland’s water utility – said that there has been “significant impact” caused to water plants across the country by Storm Darragh.

The service highlighted the most notably impacted areas as Kerry, East Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, Waterford, Donegal, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, and County Galway including the west of the city.

“Current estimates indicate that 40 of our 698 water treatment plants are currently not in production due to weather related issues with the potential to impact up to 153,000 customers should treated water reservoirs run dry. A further 20 plants are classified at risk but not yet impacting customers,” the service said. Work is underway to rectify the damage.

The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management said that the significant disruption to electricity supply throughout the country this morning – with a greater impact than Storm Ophelia – was being tackled by a number of agencies nationwide.

Storm Ophelia, which occurred in October 2017, left 385,000 customers without power at the peak but had more of a widespread impact across the country, according to the ESB.

Service provider Eir said that the storm has caused widespread service disruptions across Ireland, with Mayo and Donegal among the hardest-hit counties. It said that it is fully committed to restoring services safely as soon as possible.

“Over 35,000 broadband faults, 20,000 fixed voice and approximately 500 mobile network site outages have been registered, while ESB confirms up to 325,000 homes and businesses remain without power,” Eir said.

“The full scale of the impact will continue to emerge over the coming days once power is restored and roadways are cleared; power generators are being deployed to impacted mobile sites. The storm has caused extensive localised damage, particularly in the west, with downed cables, poles, and other critical infrastructure.”

Council warnings

The weather service has warned people to be aware of fallen trees, damage to power lines, very difficult travelling conditions, structural damage and wave overtopping.

A number of local councils have warned people about fallen trees. Galway City Council this morning that the worst of the storm had passed, and there were reports of eight trees down in the city.

In an update released at noon, Galway County Council said that the county’s roads are beginning to reopen following a clean-up operation.

“Significant progress has been made in the aftermath of Storm Darragh as Galway County Council crews work to clear fallen trees and reopen blocked roads,” the council said.

“As of 12pm, the majority of national roads across the county are now open. However, debris remains on many routes, and motorists are urged to exercise caution while driving.”

Wexford County Council had advised against all but essential travel, especially in the north of the county.

“Due to the level of trees down around the county and continuing high winds, we are asking that people only undertake essential travel today, especially in the North of the county,” the council said in a statement.

Many, many roads in the Gorey area are blocked and this will take time to clear.

Storm Darragh has passed and our crews are back on duty this morning.
There are reports of 8 trees down in the city – our crews are dealing with these at the moment.
If you come across a fallen tree – don’t deal with it yourself as there may be live electricity wires in the tree. pic.twitter.com/cOWoHxr03o

— Galway City Council (@GalwayCityCo) December 7, 2024

According to Sligo County Council there are a number of trees down on the N59 Corballa, Sligo to Ballina Road. 

Kerry County Council said it had removed multiple downed trees across the country overnight.

Tree down at Ardraw near St Mary's of the Angels

N 69 Tieraclea cleared. ESB cables removed to safety. pic.twitter.com/RdymnGPYmX

— Kerry County Council - Comhairle Contae Chiarraí (@countykerry) December 6, 2024

Limerick Council said that the storm had created “very dangerous conditions on roads” across the county and Munster, and Mayo  County Council said there were trees down on the N26 Swinford to Foxford Road and on the R331 near Kilmaine.

#StormDarragh creating very dangerous conditions on roads across Limerick and Munster. It has been a busy night for @LimerickCouncil crews. Some roads will not be cleared until it is safe. Monitor https://t.co/owyNfLEs46 for power restoration times. #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/lJVWzQ5BHu

— Limerick Council - Comhairle Luimnigh (@LimerickCouncil) December 7, 2024

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has also warned road users to be wary following the highs winds from the storm. It is advising only for essential travel to be undertaken, as high winds are projecting to continue until 9pm tonight. 

“Storm Darragh’s impact is now being felt throughout Northern Ireland, and we remind road users of the high risk of fallen trees and debris on the roads,” the PSNI said.

Slow down, leave extra time for your journey and exercise caution.

Flights diverted and services cancelled 

Dublin Airport said that a number of aircraft were diverted to it overnight. A number of flights were cancelled this morning, while the airport says it is fully operational today. 

There have also been some flight cancellations are Cork Airport. Passengers travelling today are advised to check the status of their flight with their airline.

Meanwhile, train services are delayed on a number of Irish Rail lines because of fallen trees. Irish Rail said there was “significant travel disruption this morning”. These include:

• On the DART in Dublin, a tree is down on the overhead lines near Raheny
• Connolly to Belfast trains terminating in Dundalk
• A tree obstructing the line on the Cork to Cobh route

There are other significant delays on a number of routes and services. You can check @IrishRail on X for further details. 

A number of sailings have also been cancelled due to the weather. Irish Ferries said that it’s 8:05am Dublin to Holyhead sailing had been cancelled this morning. The 2.10pm from Holyhead to Dublin has also been cancelled.

Meanwhile, the Irish Ferries sailing from Dublin to Cherbourg has been cancelled. Stena also cancelled the 8:15, 14.45 and 20.30 sailings from Dublin to Holyhead.

Today’s forecast

According to Met Éireann, Storm Darragh will continue to bring very windy and stormy conditions throughout the morning. 

Winds are due to gradually moderate during the afternoon, but will remain strong on the east coast throughout the evening. Rain will clear over the course of the day, with scattered blustery showers following.

Highest temperatures of six to 11 degrees. Tomorrow will be calmer, with dry and sunny spells, and some showers in the west and northwest.

More to follow… 

With reporting by Andrew Walsh and Emma Hickey