Power outages reported across Ireland after Storm Claudia

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Power outages have been reported nationwide, and floods have hit some areas after Storm Claudia moved over the island of Ireland.

Thousands of homes and businesses were without power on Saturday morning as rain weather warnings lifted in the south-east.

Dramatic flooding was reported in Portarlington, on the border of counties Laois and Offaly, despite no rain warning being issued for those counties.

Fallen trees have blocked roads in parts of the country, and social media videos appear to show sea foam being dramatically whipped onto shore at Loughshinny, Dublin and Bray, Co Wicklow.

The ESB said less than 5,000 homes, farms and businesses were without power as of 9am, and that crews had been responding to outages since Friday.

A spokesman said the storm brought a “modest impact” to electricity infrastructure in line with previous such wind warnings.

A status orange rain warning was in place for counties Dublin, Wexford and Wicklow until 8am on Saturday, while a status yellow rain warning was in place in 10 other counties, mostly along the east and south coasts, until 9am.

Met Éireann warned people to be alert for “significant” flooding and hazardous travelling conditions.

Keith Leonard, national director for Fire and Emergency Management, said local authorities had been preparing since Thursday for heavy rainfall.

He said a risk of flooding would remain after the weather alerts lifted, as water levels could still rise, and that fallen leaves clogging drains were a “complicating factor”.

Stena Line said that some ferry services on Friday had been cancelled due to adverse weather.

In Northern Ireland, a yellow-level rain warning is in place in counties Armagh and Down until noon on Saturday, bringing a risk of flooding and hazardous travelling conditions.