Gale force winds carried by Storm Desmond have caused serious disruption to the country's electricity supply, mainly in the west and north west, according to ESB networks. At the moment, around 3,600 customers are without power, involving 95 separate faults. The main areas affected are Tuam, Letterkenny, Killybegs, Belmullet, Galway, Athlone and Mitchelstown. ESB says it is currently working to restore powers to those customers.
The electricity supply network has warned that further outages are likely as winds continue during the day, and ESB crews will remain on alert to deal with damage to the electricity network and restore power.
#Stormdesmond will continue to hit us well into tonight, here's what midday to 3pm look like #staysafe pic.twitter.com/ZoaW4jz2sX
— ESB Networks (@ESBNetworks) December 5, 2015
ESB says to report any damage to the electricity network immediately to 1850 372 999 and never approach or touch fallen wires.
This morning Met Éireann updated its status red rainfall for Connacht, Donegal, Clare and Kerry, the first status red warning for rainfall since its colour coded warning system began in 2012.
The update says very heavy rainfall will continue through today and early tonight with further accumulations of 40mm to 60mm expected. This is in addition to severe rainfall over the past 24 hours.
A status orange rainfall warning is in place for Cavan, Cork and Limerick while an orange wind warning is in place for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo and Clare.
Status yellow wind and rainfall warnings are in place for the rest of the country. All of the warnings are in place until late into tonight.
Farmers in Ireland and the UK have been tweeting about the storm since yesterday:
I have a companion at milking this morning ! He doesn't like #stormdesmond pic.twitter.com/1l8kClRPNT
— Boyne Valley Cheese (@Boynevalleyblue) December 5, 2015
Heavy rain falling here and getting very windy, time to bed the pigs and let them at it #StormDesmond pic.twitter.com/7mooWTfM2n
— Woodside Farm (@Woodside_Farm) December 4, 2015
And here is a picture of some very bad flooding in Ballingeary, Co Cork:
Very bad flooding in #Cork at Ballingeary @AnLorcGlic @IrelandAMTV3 #StormDesmond pic.twitter.com/0mnNWiHYGn
— Deric Ó h'Artagáin (@deric_hartigan) December 5, 2015
Is Storm Desmond affecting your farm? Send pictures to webdesk@farmersjournal.ie, tweet @farmersjournal or send them to our Facebook messages. And stay safe.
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