Power cuts and travel chaos as storms roll in

Thousands of homes spent hours without power today and several flights were diverted from Cork airport as a severe storm battered the south coast.

ESB members are working to restore electricity to thousands of homes in Cork as gales and storm force winds wreaked havoc with repair operations.

Power was restored to 1,000 householders in the Crosshaven and Macroom areas, while teams were attempting to bring services back to more than 1,000 homes elsewhere along the south coast.

Four flights heading to Cork Airport had to be diverted to Shannon and Kerry Airports this morning because of adverse weather conditions.

Two Aer Lingus flights, from London and Amsterdam, and an Aer Arann flight from Birmingham were diverted to Shannon. Another Aer Arann flight from Dublin to Cork was diverted to Kerry.

An Aer Arann aircraft which was due to fly from Cork to Edinburgh was forced to turn back because of the extreme weather conditions.

Dick Roche, Environment Minister, has asked local authorities to ensure the necessary arrangements, including sandbags, are in place to combat flooding in vulnerable areas.

Floods are expected along the east of the country as high tides, rain and strong winds plague the coast.

People are also being encouraged to listen to their local radio stations for updates on the situation as it develops.

The AA warned motorists to take extra care when driving tonight and tomorrow morning. Road surfaces are extremely slippy as leaves have fallen on to wet roads and branches and debris are also hampering traffic.

Officials said houses across Cork and Wexford have no power. While Carlow, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Laois, Kildare, Limerick, Longford, Sligo, Waterford are all suffering from bad conditions and extreme care is needed on all routes.

Met Eireann said the south coast is currently bearing the brunt of the storm. Winds with average speeds of 40 miles per hour and gusting up to 55mph have been battering the area.

Warnings of winds gusting up to 80mph, and 80mm of rainfall in many places have also been issued.

Ferry services to France and Wales were also disrupted with a number of sailings cancelled.