Three people killed as Ireland feels the full force of Storm Ophelia

It was a one-day event, with lifelong consequences for the families of its three victims, and ongoing ramifications for households, schools, transport, businesses, the health service, forestry, and farming.

Ex-hurricane Ophelia arrived with the dawn off the south-west coast and wreaked widespread havoc before leaving under cover of darkness — thousands of trees felled in its wake, structural damage to buildings, up to 330,000 homes without electricity, and schools and creches facing a second day of closure today.

The human toll was most profoundly felt in counties Waterford, Tipperary, and Louth.