Storm Kathleen: Thousands of homes, businesses and farms still without power

About 7,000 homes, businesses and farms remained without power on Saturday night as Storm Kathleen moved across the country.

ESB Networks had said earlier in the evening that the largest outages were currently across counties Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Laois and Wicklow.

“ESB Networks crews will continue to work late into the evening with a view to restoring supply to the vast majority of impacted customers by tonight,” a spokesman said.

“However, there will be some customers without power overnight.”

Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+: 10 of the best new shows to watch in May

---

‘No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs’: How common were such notices in Britain?

---

How to have a sustainable holiday in Clare

---

A bride’s fashion decisions are no longer focused on just one day

---

ESB Networks added that it was continuing to monitor the situation and real-time information on power outages and restoration times was available on www.PowerCheck.ie.

There were also disruptions to rail services earlier between Heuston station and Kildare and Galway as well as the Connolly-Sligo route due to fallen trees on the lines.

Dublin Airport said this afternoon that operations were continuing “to move well”, however weather conditions at other airports had led to a total of six cancellations.

“Strong gusts in the middle part of Saturday morning at Dublin Airport resulted in some incoming aircraft having to circle the airfield for a short period before landing, with one inbound flight from Dallas making the decision to divert to Paris,” it said.

“As always, passengers due to fly later today are advised to check directly with their airline for updates regarding their flight.”

An orange wind warning remained in place for counties Mayo and Galway until 6pm. A yellow wind warning was in operation for the rest of the country until 8pm while a similar warning has been issued for Donegal, Mayo and west Galway until 4pm on Sunday.

The Titanic Museum in Belfast said due to damage caused to its roof by Storm Kathleen it would remain closed for the remainder of Saturday and Sunday.

Met Éireann has warned of difficult travel conditions, fallen trees, some power outages, coastal flooding and wave overtopping while the weather warnings are in place.

Storm Kathleen with strong winds approaching 50km/h caused major disruption across Munster, with falling trees bringing down power lines resulting in thousands of houses and businesses being left without power on Saturday morning.

Cork appeared to be bearing the brunt of the storm with falling trees bringing down power lines across the city and county but Kerry was also hit, while some communities in Waterford, Tipperary and Limerick also found themselves without power on Saturday morning.

Among the worst hit was Whitechurch, 10km north of Cork city, where over 1,600 homes were left without power, while over 700 premises in Mitchelstown in North Cork were without power.

ESB Network Crews restored power to over 1,700 homes and businesses around Ringaskiddy near Cork Harbour and over 900 users in Carrigaline by about 10:30am on Saturday.

Crews also restored power by lunch hour to over 300 homes in Ballincollig in the western suburbs of Cork city, though there were further power outages in north Cork where over 120 homes were without electricity in Charleville ,while over 30 homes lost power near Newmarket.

Storm Kathleen’s impact continued to be felt up into Munster and south Leinster with ESB Network reporting outages in Kilmacthomas in Co Waterford, where almost 80 customers lost power, as well as Cashel in Co Tipperary and Callan in Co Kilkenny where smaller numbers ended up powerless.

In Kerry, over 600 homes and businesses in Killarney lost power while there were also outages on Valentia Island, Rathmore, Castleisland, Causeway while there were also outages in several parts of Limerick including Bruff and Dromcollogher where over 1,000 homes were left without power.

Although coming from the southwest, Storm Kathleen penetrated deep into Munster with Clonmel in Co Tipperary experiencing one of the worst impacts when fallen trees brought down a power line affecting over 1,800 homes. Lismore in Co Waterford also saw almost 50 homes lose power.

Gardaí advised motorists to exercise caution if they have to make journeys in Storm Kathleen with reports of several trees down and debris causing problems on roads in both west Cork and Kerry while there also reports of trees down on several roads outside Cork city.

Kerry County Council said Tralee Town Park and Playground will be closed all day on Saturday. Killarney House & Gardens and Muckross House are also closed for the day.

In Northern Ireland, the Met Office issued a yellow wind warning for counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry, that came into place at 8am on Saturday and was to lift at 10pm.

It warned of blustery showers in parts of the region, with strong to gale force southerly winds and possibly severe gales for a time along the Down and Antrim coasts.

Some exposed and coastal areas could see gusts reaching higher speeds of up to 70mph. Portaferry Road outside Newtownards was impassable due to flooding at lunchtime.

Storm Kathleen is a significant low-pressure system tracking off the west coast which will bring strong southerly winds and damaging gusts across the country.

The National Directorate for Fire & Emergency Management (NDFEM) crisis management team convened a Met Éireann briefing on Friday morning to assess possible impacts from the storm.

Keith Leonard, national director of the NDFEM, advised the public to “stay away from all coastal areas for the duration of the Met Éireann warnings”.

“Strong winds can make driving conditions hazardous – especially for the more vulnerable road users such as cyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists and high sided vehicles – and road users should pay particular attention to the risk posed by fallen trees and flying debris”, he said.

“Importantly, I would remind people that it is critical that they never ever touch or approach fallen wires. Be sure to stay safe and stay clear of fallen or damaged electricity wires and, if you encounter any, do contact ESB Networks at 1800 372 999″.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has also asked road users to exercise caution while using the roads on Saturday.

Additional reporting – PA

• Join us for The Irish Times Inside Politics podcast live in Belfast on April 10th
• Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
• Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date