Mini tornado hits west of country

Parts of Galway are left reeling today - after a mini tornado hit the east of the county last night.

Parts of the west are left reeling today - after a mini tornado hit last night.

Stormy conditions caused trees to be uprooted, farm buildings were damaged and even some gravestones were toppled at the local cemetery in Clonfert.

ESB crews are continuing to restore power to the region this morning as over 800 homes were left without power last night.

"About 7pm yesterday evening a funnel cloud touched the ground so that is classified as a tornado at that point," said Met Eireann forecaster Siobhan Ryan.

"That said it would be very low on the EF scale but enough to cause destruction but these events occur across Ireland on a widespread scale quite often

"It's just quite rare when they do touch the ground and nearly impossible to forecast unfortunately."