ESB: Rural areas are worst hit

The ESB say that rural areas were hardest hit by last night's cuts after heavy storms swept the country.

Spokesperson Kevin McDermott says that its difficult to quantify how many lines have been affected nationwide, but the greatest damage has been done by timber falls.

Timber falls occur when branches or large parts of trees fall and cut off power cables.

The ESB spokesperson maintains that these falls affect rural areas the most as those lines would be overhead rather than urban which run underground.

More than 40,000 homes nationwide lost power due to heavy storms last night.