Storm Fergus: Leitrim village closed overnight after tornado causes severe damage 

A house with its roof blown off. Picture: Gerry Faughnan

Storm Fergus has seen severe winds sweep across Co Leitrim with some locals saying a "tornado" hit the village.

The freak weather event has caused damage to property and cars with residents saying squally winds resembling a tornado hit the area. 

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Leitrim County Council said the village will remain closed overnight "for safety precautions".

A pub and shop in Leitrim village have been badly damaged, while the roof of another building was blown off.

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Leitrim County Council said the village will remain closed overnight "for safety precautions".

Diversions are in place at Battlebridge Fingerboard & Drumgorman Lake.

"No persons have been seriously injured" as a result of the tornado, the statement read.

 

A status yellow wind warning is due to come into place in the county at 6pm, with Storm Fergus generating "very strong and gusty southwesterly winds, veering westerly". The warning is in place until midnight.

In a statement, Leitrim County Council referred to the tornado as a "freak weather incident".

"Staff from Leitrim County Council Fire Service, Roads Department and the Civil Defence attended the incident along with members of An Garda Siochana and the Ambulance Service," the statement read.

A clean-up operation is underway in the village to clear the "significant amount of debris" that was thrown onto the footpaths as a result.

"The main R280 road passing through the village has been closed and will remain closed until such time as a Storm Fergus has passed and a further assessment of the structural damage within the village has been carried out.

"This assessment will be carried out in conjunction with external consulting engineers. When the Council is satisfied that it is safe to do so, the road and footpaths through the village be reopened at that point," they added.

A witness to the possible tornado said his Jeep was pelted with debris as he drove through the storm.

Councillor Paddy Farrell said he was almost caught in the middle of the “tornado” while driving through Leitrim village.

“I was actually driving through the village myself. If I was a second slower I’d have been in the brunt of it,” he said.

“I was driving my Jeep. It sounded as if there was a crowd pegging stones at my Jeep as I was driving through, with all the debris that was flying around. It just happened all of a sudden.” Mr Farrell, who lives near the village, said the wind took a roof off a building.

“There was a roof taken off a building, and there was several buildings damaged. Even on fairly new apartments there was a damage, I think the window blew in on one of them.

“There’s a lot of cars damaged, there could be 10 to 20 cars damaged.” He said emergency services were called and businesses near the scene had closed.

“No one was badly injured, but I think there were two minor injuries,” he said, adding: “I was actually shook when I came home to the house, because it was frightening – I kept going to get home as quick as I could.”

Damage to roofs as emergency services feal with the aftermath of the tornado

Alan O'Reilly of Carlow Weather shared one video which he said "shows rotation which supports the reports of a tornado in Leitrim Village".

This video shared on Snapchat shows rotation which supports the reports of a Tornado in Leitrim Village today. Hoping everyone is OK after this shocking event. pic.twitter.com/iYShm8PW15

— Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) December 10, 2023

 

Met Éireann has issued a number of weather warnings including a status orange wind warning for Clare, Galway and Mayo.

Met Éireann meteorologist Aoife Kealy says the weather event likely was a tornado, as a thunderstorm cell had moved through the area at the time it was recorded.

“What happens then is essentially that you've got rotating winds that kind of extend down from the thunderstorms and they can be quite damaging,” she told the Irish Examiner.

Ms Kealy says these rotating winds can have a “serious impact” on the surrounding areas.

Tornadoes are not a common occurrence in Ireland, with roughly only 10 recorded every year, she explained.

A difference between tornadoes and plain strong winds is the rotating motion that occurs.

“The winds are kind of twists, and that's the characteristic thing you see with tornadoes,” she said.

These clouds characterised by winds “twisting almost like a cone” can cause serious damage to property and life.

Mr O’Reilly added that these weather events occur yearly in Ireland but are often “very small and short-lived”.

“Most hit open ground and don’t cause damage, however this one hit a village and caused a lot of damage,” he added.

“There were thunderstorms in the area associated with Storm Fergus at the time,” he said.

Leitrim County Council has been contacted for comment.