Several thousand in the west and northwest of Ireland are without power after Storm Floris brought strong winds overnight.
A series of yellow wind and rain alerts warning of potential localised floods, lightning damage and power outages came into force in the early hours of Monday.
More than 2,200 customers in Creeslough, Co Donegal are without power, as are 1,000 in Cloon, near Tuam in Co Galway. More than 1,200 have lost electricity across Co Clare, while outages are affecting more than 500 customers are reported by ESB Networks in each of Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, and Swinford, Co Mayo.
Met Éireann predicts western counties will face “damaging gusts”, possibly dangerous driving conditions and structural damage in some areas.
RM Block
Dangerous conditions are expected in the west and northwest coasts, although the worst of Storm Floris will likely hit Scotland, where amber warnings cited a potential “danger to life”.
Starting on Sunday night, Storm Floris tracked to the northwest of Ireland, bringing unseasonably wet and windy weather with spells of sometimes heavy rain and potentially spot flooding.
The first of three Met Éireann yellow alerts took effect at 2am on Monday for counties Clare, Galway, Mayo and Sligo, lasting until 1pm.
A second status yellow wind warning for Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan and Leitrim came into force at 4am on Monday and is set to end at 4pm.
The third warning, also for Monday, is a status yellow wind warning for Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan and Leitrim. Met Éireann says winds associated with Storm Floris will be very strong, blustery and potentially damaging.
The forecaster says people in these areas should expect dangerous travelling conditions, disruption to outdoor events, structural damage, fallen trees, loose objects and power outages.
Met Éireann’s Andrew Doran Sherlock had said “unseasonably wet and windy weather” on the way with the approach of Storm Floris.
The UK’s Met Office issued a similar weather warning for all of Northern Ireland. That yellow alert is active for 24 hours from Monday at 6am. Amber warnings have been issued for Scotland and parts of England and Wales.
The Met Office said people should expect “injuries and danger to life from large waves and beach material being thrown on to sea fronts, coastal roads and properties”.
The storm has been named by the UK’s Met Office.
Met Éireann predicts Tuesday will start off with bright spells and scattered showers, though cloud will increase early on before breaking up again by the early afternoon. Highest temperatures of 15 to 20 degrees are expected with moderate to fresh northwest winds.
