IRELAND is set for another battering tomorrow with a new snow warning in place just days after the most ferocious storm in decades hit the country.
Historic Storm Eowyn brought gale force winds of 180kph and caused widespread power outages and business closures.
Weather chiefs warn over the next onslaught of bad weather on Sunday[/caption]
Clean up began today as the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) came together to plan for the next onslaught of bad weather.
Met Eireann placed almost every county under a status yellow weather warning as people began to recover from Friday’s havoc.
Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, and Mayo are under a snow and ice warning until nine o’clock tomorrow morning, with weather bosses warning of “icy stretches”.
Carlow, Kilkenny, Wicklow, Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, and Waterford are under a 12-hour warning for “spot flooding” from five am to five pm on Sunday.
And a yellow wind warning was issued for Carlow, Dublin, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Munster, Galway, Mayo, and Sligo from six am to six pm tomorrow.
Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, and Meath are under the same warning six o’clock tonight, while Cork, Kerry, and Waterford received the same alert until six o’clock on Monday morning.
Alan O’Reilly of Carlow Weather told his Facebook followers: “There is a risk of some gusts over 90km/h into the south, it is going to be a windy day though right across the country but nothing like what we saw (with Eowyn).
“But obviously weakened structures, weakened trees could still be brought down, so there is a risk of some more damage.
“Still windy on Monday as well – the good news is the next system on Wednesday is forecast to stay south of Ireland… but one to keep an eye on just in case.”
He later added on X: “If you are sick of this bad weather then the good news is that weather model trends show higher pressure building for end of coming week and the bank holiday weekend with milder air and some calmer weather looking likely.”
STORM SET TO HIT SPAIN
The weather expert said another storm is set to hit Spain, named Storm Herminia, which will bring us wet and windy weather on Sunday and Monday.
In Spain, it will bring very strong gusts of wind – even of “hurricane-force” over 120 km/h.
There will also be waves higher than seven metres on the northern coasts.
Met Eireann forecaster Linda Hughes said: “All eyes on this next area of low pressure. It is going to be to the west of Ireland on Sunday.
‘SLOW MOVING SYSTEM’
“It is going to bring further strong winds and wet conditions, and that is going to be a slow moving system.
“So it’s going to slowly move eastwards over Ireland during Monday and into Tuesday as it weakens. So it is going to be an unsettled picture into the start of next week.”
The spokesperson of the ESB stated that “the impact on customers and damage to the electricity network nationwide is unprecedented”.
They stated that it was “far the worst storm experienced” by the company both in terms of customers losing supply and the “scale of damage” across the network.
POWER RESTORATION UPDATE
At the time of the statement issued at 5pm today, January 25, approximately 402,000 homes, farms and businesses remain without power.
However, the ESB Networks teams have restored power to 366,000 customers since Friday afternoon.
The power restoration by all ESB Networks crews and partner contractors will continue on its repairs late into the evening and will commence once again at first light tomorrow morning.
Customers can view their estimated time of power restoration in their area on PowerCheck website, where they frequently update it throughout the days.
URGENT SAFETY WARNING
The ESB Network also issued an urgent safety warning due to the fallen debris caused by the storm, preventing people from seeing hidden risks such as exposed wire.
They said: “We have been made aware of several instances of potentially very dangerous incidents where members of the public have unknowingly approached fallen electricity infrastructure.
“Fallen debris after a storm can prevent people from seeing hidden risks such as wires entangled into trees and branches.
“If you come across fallen wires or damaged electricity network, never, ever touch or approach these as they are LIVE and extremely dangerous. Please report any damage to electricity infrastructure by calling 1800 372 999. “
