West coast bears brunt of storms and swells

A BABYSITTER and three young children had a lucky escape when lightning struck the roof of their house and set it on fire.

The female babysitter fled with the children in Co Galway on Saturday night.

The incident happened at Shanbally, Craughwell just after 10pm.

The babysitter heard a loud bang as the lightning struck and she quickly took the children out of the bungalow and raised the alarm.

Fire brigades from Galway city and Athenry rushed to the scene and brought the blaze under control.

A spokesperson for the fire brigade said extensive smoke damage was caused to the house and the attic was damaged.

A telephone pole close to the bungalow also went on fire as a result of the lightning strike.

This was brought under control by fire units.

Meanwhile, close to 8,000 homes along the west coast were without power at some stage over the weekend as high winds and torrential rain swept in from the Atlantic.

ESB crews from across Co Galway were last night still trying to reconnect homes in parts of Connemara.

Moycullen, Carraroe, Rosmuc and Lettermore were the worst hit areas.

But elsewhere, the predicted storm proved something of a damp squib.

Sunshine and showers jostled for centre stage but neither stole the show and Christmas shoppers were not deterred by the mildly inclement weather.

There were dramatic swells along some parts of the coastline, to the delight of daring surfers.

In Mullaghmore, Co Sligo, the swell reached 17m and Duncan Scott, a Cornish surfer, defied warnings to ride what are thought to be the biggest waves recorded off the west coast. The cautious took precautions expecting the worst and some gigs were postponed on foot of the forecast.

In Cork, plans to kick off the Christmas celebrations fell foul of the weather warnings and Christmas in the Park, at Bishop Lucey Park in the city centre, was postponed for a finer day.

The organisers, Cork Marketing Partnership, have rescheduled for Saturday in the hope of sunnier skies.

Accordingly, Santa visit ticket-holders are asked to present tickets at the kiosk in the park and alternative times will be allocated.

Otherwise, there was little evidence of cancellations, and no great need to batten down the hatches.

Met Éireann’s forecast for today gets the week off to a bright, fresh and breezy start, with sunny spells and scattered showers.

The three-day outlook is grimmer. It will be windy much of the time and bands of persistent rain will cross the country from the west with cold showery conditions following.