Updated 8.58 am
UPWARDS OF 56,000 people are without power across the country as Stom Doris downed branches and power lines with gale force winds reaching 140 km/h.
In the east, ESB Powercheck is reporting major outages in Lucan and Celbridge leaving over 2,500 homes and businesses without power. Along the coast there are other power outages from Balbriggan to Bray.
In the west there are major outages in parts of Mayo with thousands of customers across Ballinrobe, Westport and Charlestown without power.
There are 770 separate outages across the country with ESB repair teams having been dispatched to different areas since early this morning. The provider warns that this may even increase as stormy conditions continue.
ESB says that it is too early to say when outages will be repaired but that it will likely be this afternoon before the full extent of the damage has been assessed.
ESB Networks have mobilised crews who are currently working as well as possible in very difficult conditions to restore power as quickly as possible to affected customers, once it is safe to do so. Crews based in areas of the country less impacted by the storm are en route to assist colleagues in the most affected areas.
Downed trees are also causing major commuting problems, especially towards Dublin with AA Roadwatch is reporting problems across Kildare, Meath and Laois.
Fire crews in Cavan and Meath are all dealing with problems and a truck has overturned on the M1.
Caution is being urged across all routes.
The stormy weather across Ireland and the UK has also caused the cancellation of flights and ferry crossing with providers urging customers to check the status of their flights.
A total of 12 Aer Lingus flights have been cancelled and others are delayed.
Met Éireann’s weather warning for Storm Doris remains in effect.
A status yellow warning from Met Éireann kicked in at midnight as heavy rainfall and sharp winds affect the whole of the island well into the afternoon.
However, a status orange warning kicked in between 5am and 9am, with gusts of up to 110 to 120km/h predicted.
This orange warning applies for counties in the east of the country, including Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Wexford, Wicklow and Meath.
England and Wales are also set to get badly hit, with even heavier rainfall and strong winds expected across the Irish sea as Storm Doris gathers momentum.
There is also a status orange warning in place for coastal regions as winds will reach strong gale force 9, and persist throughout the day.
Winds will be even stronger on the east coast, with storm force 10 gales from Fair Head in Antrim to Carnsore Point in Wexford.
Looking ahead, our weather will stay changeable and unsettled for the rest of the week, and into next week too.
Temperatures will hit 6 to 9 degrees throughout the day, but the wind chill will mean it’ll feel even colder than that.
Luckily, Met Éireann predicts we may get over the worst of the wind by Thursday evening, as our easterly neighbours get hit by Storm Doris.
- With reporting by Rónán Duffy
Got any pictures from the storm? Send them into us at tips@thejournal.ie.
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