A "mini tornado" linked to heavy storms damaged a number of houses and a car in a Co Tipperary village last night.
Residents in Glengoole, about five miles from Killenaule, reported damage to their property after the mini-tornado hit at around 2am today. No one was injured.
One man reported to Met Éireann that a 37-foot ladder that had been in his garden ended up on the roof of his house.
Windows that had been partially open were blown further open by the freak storm, and the slates were lifted off the roof of one home.
A woman in Glengoole post office told ireland.comshe had heard reports that a roof had been lifted off a house short distance away from the village and she understood a car was also damaged.
Hugh Daly of Met Éireann said: "They [mini tornadoes] happen in association with thunderstorms. What happens is the pressure drops quite dramatically, and the pressure in the house is high, which is why the windows blow open and the slates lift off the roof."
Mr Daly said mini-tornadoes were not particularly uncommon and had been reported in a number of locations in Ireland back in May. The types seen here tend to sweep through a corridor of one kilometre or so, he added.