Thousands remain without power as yellow wind warning issued for Donegal, Galway and Mayo

Container ship Independent Pursuit steams through the turbulent sea conditions during Storm Aiden as she heads for Roches Point and the safety of port in Cork, Ireland.- Picture; David Creedon / Anzenberger

The ESB says it is making good progress in restoring power to homes and businesses affected by Storm Aiden.

Thousands are without power this evening, mainly in the north-west, after strong winds battered the country.

A new yellow wind warning will come into place later tonight, concerning Donegal, Galway and Mayo.

Guests of 130 kilometres per hour were recorded earlier at Malin Head in Donegal, while 115 kilometre per hour gusts were recorded at Belmullet in Mayo.

A Status Yellow wind warning is currently in place for the entire country and this will remain in place until 4pm.

Earlier: Up to 10,000 homes and businesses are without power this afternoon as Storm Aiden hits the country.

The northwest is worst affected, with more than 8,000 without power in Donegal, according to the ESB.

The utility says it expects crews to repair the faults over the course of the afternoon.

Five Atlantic coastal counties were under a Status Orange wind warning until 4pm with severe and damaging gusts of up to 130km/h forecast.

A Status Yellow wind alert was in place for the rest of the country over the same period, along with a warning of some coastal flooding.

A separate Status Orange wind warning had been issued in Cork, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Kerry and Waterford from 5am until 10am this morning.

ESB crews are mobilised across the country in response to the outages and will be working to restore power to those affected as quickly and safely as possible.

They will continue to monitor Storm Aiden as it tracks across the country.

Customers can find up-to-date information at powercheck.ie.

Wild waves at myrtleville #StormAiden #cork #stòrmfront pic.twitter.com/TPH9rEPIiA

— Derek 1968 (@1968_derek) October 31, 2020

Some coastal flooding is possible also due to the combination of low pressure, high tides and onshore winds.

Evelyn Cusack, head of forecasting with Met Éireann, says people need to be very careful.

"The ground is fairly saturated now after all the recent rain and the trees are still in leaf, they're only half gone really because we haven't had much wind really over the last few weeks.

"You get more trees down when they have more leaves on them so a storm at this time of year can be more potent than a real winter storm."

Alan O'Reilly from Carlow Weather says there could be damaging gusts - especially near coasts.

"Storm Aiden tracked in late last night/early this morning and it has brought some very strong and damaging winds to the south coast and they will move right up across the country through the day. Some heavy rainfall also.

"Gusts of up to 130km/h are possible in the south coast at first and then extending into the west coast but really a very windy day right across the country with some strong and damaging gusts possible in all areas."

Below is the hourly cloud and rainfall forecast from our high resolution HARMONIE model. It covers the period from now up to 06:00 Monday.

Current Warnings: https://t.co/Xg3aMJlyuS

National forecast and outlook: https://t.co/9gKN6SVok4 pic.twitter.com/uoAOI43gMn

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) October 31, 2020

The Coast Guard's Deputy Director Gerard O'Flynn is urging the public to take precautions and heed today's weather warnings.

"Met Éireann has been very clear in their weather forecasting and winds of anything up to 90km/h are forecast which is storm force conditions.

"Add to that the weather is still very autumnal in terms of the volume of leaves on the trees and leaves falling. That is going to cause additional problems with regards to flooding.

"Also, high tides could lead to flooding around the country.

"Overall, it is not a time to be out and about."

Brian Farrell from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) says drivers need to be extra careful.

"The first thing we would say is to please check local weather conditions and the traffic situation in your local area before heading out on a journey.

"When you are out on that journey, expect the unexpected.

"That is everything from the challenges that severe winds pose from downed branches and debris on the roads as well as high-sided vehicles potentially being blown off course to the dangers and the challenges posed by heavy rain and wet roads."