This is the driver of THAT Mini seen in Salthill overnight

Nope, not a lion tamer after all…

Twitter was alight last night with footage of a black mini with a jaunty chequered roof being driven through waves washing over the Sathill Promenade in Galway.

The car can be seen facing into a flooded stretch of road, before making its way into water deep enough to have significant waves on the surface, caused by the high winds.

At one point, the sea lashes against the promenade and sends a surge of water into the path of the car, which slows down, and then ploughs on.

#coastal #flooding in #GALWAY Ireland currently as #StormEleanor batters the U.K. and Ireland. #severeweather source. @GalwayLatinQtr pic.twitter.com/xnMrCTdSBC

— WEATHER/ METEO WORLD (@StormchaserUKEU) January 2, 2018

The driver - Selina Callaghan from Kerrykeel, Donegal had parked her car on the promenade before the storm hit, and when she returned to it was faced with whether to leave it there, or attempt to drive it away.

She chose the latter, unknowingly observed from the high buildings near the promenade.

(We've reached out to Selina for an interview.)

The footage kicked off a lot of twitter commentary, some of it shocked that a driver (assumed to be male) had unwisely attempted to get through that water, and some of it impressed at the effort.

He must be late for his work as a lion tamer.

— Jeremy Howes (@jeremyjhowes) January 3, 2018