Thousands of homes without power amid strong winds

Emergency crews tackling downed power & phone lines on the Westport coast road near Louisburgh, Co Mayo.

Over 3,500 homes across the country have been left without power as strong gusts batter Ireland on Wednesday. 

Thousands of homes and businesses in Munster, Galway, Wexford, Sligo and Kilkenny will not see their electricity return until Wednesday evening. 

ESB workers are attempting to repair the faults and are working as "quickly as possible" to restore power. 

An estimated 1,500 homes in Cork have had no electricity since 9am this morning are expected to see it return before 4pm on Wednesday afternoon.

A further 741 properties in Tipperary are expected to see their power return before 6pm this evening, while 382 properties in Kerry will have to wait until 6:45pm at the latest.

It comes as a yellow wind warning has been in place for Munster, Connacht, Donegal, Offlay, Laois, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Wicklow, Kildare and Dublin since 10.40am this morning. It will remain in place until 8pm this evening. 

Met Éireann has warned of "gusts of 90km/h to 110km/h are expected, stronger in coastal areas and over high ground." 

Gale force winds

A status yellow gale warning is also in place for all coasts of Ireland and on the Irish Sea. The national forecaster says they are expecting "southwesterly winds veering west to northwest will reach gale force 8 or strong gale force 9 at times." 

The alert came into effect at midnight on Wednesday and will stay in place until 3am on Thursday. 

WEATHER CENTRE

Check out the Irish Examiner's WEATHER CENTRE for regularly updated short and long range forecasts wherever you are.