Tens of thousands without power as storm batters Ireland
Tens of thousands of homes in Ireland were left without electricity as a storm swept across the country, causing disruption to flights and ferry crossings.
Winds during the storm, named "Barney" by meteorological authorities, damaged electricity cables knocking out power to over 45,000 homes at one point before engineers began to restore power.
Ireland\’s national meteorological service Met Eireann had issued an orange weather warning, the second-highest level, for most of Tuesday, warning of winds of up to 130km/hr.
Meteorologists have also warned that the storm could fell trees and cause power cuts and flooding as it moves across Britain this week.
"Currently 25,000 customers remain without power," said Bernadine Maloney of the Electricity Supply Board in an update at 2030 GMT, adding that the worst-affected areas were in the south and midlands.
"We\’ve had a number of large trees fall on the network and restoration will be slow."
Irish police said a tree fell on a bus and car and other pictures shared on social media showed felled trees and debris on roads in different parts of the country.
Flights to Cork, Dublin and Shannon airports have all been affected by a number of cancellations, delays and diversions.
A number of ferries to and from Wales across the Irish Sea were also cancelled because of the conditions.
SOURCE: AFP
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