A 'status red' wind warning has been lifted but storm Rachel continues to sweep across the country. Met Eireann issued the alert yesterday for the west and north west, with the worst of the weather on coastal areas.
Two orange warnings are still in place for the rest of the country, with gusts of up to 150 kilometres per hour possible in some parts.
Electricity and phone services have been affected across the country.
ESB crews are working to restore power to homes left powerless following the damage caused by Storm Rachel.
Most of those affected by blackouts have had power restored, but there are still some households - particularly in Mayo and Donegal - without supply.
Speaking on the Last Word on Today FM, Bernadine Moloney of ESB Networks said repair crews are battling difficult conditions.
“We’ve had a lot of issues with timber falling on the lines and wind damage as well as some lighting damage as well, so it’s been a challenge.
“There were over 350 faults on the system so obviously somebody had to go and fix each of those faults,” she said.
An estimated 10,000 fixed line and broadband customers are without service following heavy wind and rain and Eircom is encouraging customers to report faults on their line as soon as possible.
The worst affected areas are rural, and exposed parts of Cork, Galway, Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo, Limerick, Kerry and Clare.
“As expected the western seaboard was badly hit,” says Paul Bradley Director of Corporate Affairs with Eircom.
“Areas where they are exposed to the high wind, particularly rural and exposed parts of counties,” suffered a loss of service, Mr Bradley said.
The severe weather has claimed the life of a man on the outskirts of Lisburn, whose car was hit by a tree.
Dozens of flights have been cancelled at Dublin Airport due to high winds with over 20 arriving flights diverted away from the airport.
Most of the diversions have been sent to Shannon - but others are now being forced to head for Cork, Belfast and even England.
The National Emergency Coordination Group met today to assess the response to the extreme weather and has said the impact of Storm Rachel has not been as severe as it could have been.
Sandbags outside businesses in Salthill
#StormRachel has landed but is still intensifying, for those in the RED ALERT areas if you have power a good idea to charge phones ipads etc
— ESB Networks (@ESBNetworks) January 14, 2015
People affected by power cuts caused by the storm can call the ESB call centre on 1850 372 999
In Galway, there’s been flooding, winds gusting at up to 130 kilometres per hour and hundreds of homes left without electricity.
Irish Ferries have cancelled all their sailings this morning due to adverse weather conditions. Passengers are advised to contact Irish Ferries for alternative sailing arrangements.
Bus Éireann are reporting that all services are operating as normal:
All Bus Éireann services operating as normal in adverse weather conditions #StormRachel
— Bus Eireann (@Buseireann) January 15, 2015
