Young man killed after tree falls on vehicle during Storm Éowyn  

The deceased, a young man in his 20s, was driving home from work at about 5am when a tree struck his vehicle. File picture: Dan Linehan

A young man was killed by a falling tree as he drove home from work on Friday morning in high winds, before the status red weather alert for his county took effect. 

A tree struck his vehicle after 5am at Feddyglass, Raphoe, Donegal.

The deceased, who was in his 20s, had left work with a colleague and they drove in convoy for safety due to the weather warning, which was status orange at the time. The colleague saw the tree strike the young man’s vehicle before another tree then hit his own, it is understood. He survived and rushed to help his colleague.

Although the fire service attended the scene early this morning, a red weather warning associated with Storm Éowyn took effect from 6am, making conditions so treacherous that it was impossible for other emergency services to reach the scene for some time. There were extremely high winds and multiple trees down in the area and other debris on the roads.

"This incident actually happened during an orange wind warning in the Donegal area," Garda Superintendent Liam Geraghty from the Garda Press Office told RTÉ this morning before the fatality was confirmed.

A Garda statement this evening said that at approximately 5.30am today, gardaí were alerted to a serious road traffic incident at Feddyglass, Raphoe, Donegal.

"Subsequently gardaí and local emergency services have attended the scene where during Storm Éowyn a tree fell on a car. 

"A male driver was fatally injured during the incident. The body of the deceased remains at the scene at this time.

"Gardaí are working with local authority and third party contractors to facility the removal of the remains of the deceased from the scene."

The N14 road remains closed at this time.

A forensic collision investigator and divisional scenes of crime have commenced investigations at the scene.