Tracker: Wind speeds of more than 130km/h recorded in Cork as Storm Barra hits

The speed was recorded in Sherkin Island where there are gusts of 115km/h

Flooding on Morrison's Island in Cork City. Picture: John Roycroft

Storm Barra has brought wind speeds of more than 100km/h, hitting the red warning category.

Fastnet Lighthouse has recorded average winds of 135km/h with gusts of 157km/h.

Met Éireann recorded a speed of 81km/h in Sherkin Island where there are gusts of 115km/h.

The storm will impact the country today and into Wednesday with flooding and power outages already being reported.

Latest reports, Sherkin island has recorded a mean wind speed of 81 km/h just touching into the red warning category ⚠️, keep safe today and follow instructions and advice given by the authorities under all circumstances. pic.twitter.com/on7dpOBPC4

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) December 7, 2021

 

Power outages:

Thousands of homes and businesses around the country have been hit with power outages from the storm. 

In Cork there has been a significant power outage in Bishopstown, affecting 1,522 people.

Some 48 customers are without power in Mayfield.

In Kerry, around 1,280 customers are affected by an outage in Castletownbere with outages have been reported in Coolcorcoran near Killarney and Gurranebane.

Further up the coast, around 1,300 homes have seen a loss of power in Kilkee.

Power outages have also been recorded in Waterford, Portlaoise, Galway, Dublin and Donegal.

Flooding:

The river Lee in Cork burst its banks shortly before high tide at around 7.30am, reaching the South Mall.

Despite this, the flooding has been confined to city centre streets and significant property damage is not expected.

Flooding in Cork City. Picture: John Roycroft

“We didn’t get the maximum of what was possible and we don’t anticipate property damage,” the city council’s director of operations, David Joyce said.

“The winds were not as high as they could have been around this time and we are hopeful that we will escape a major flooding event.” 

President of the Cork Business Association, Eoin O’Sullivan, said it had been another sleepless night for business owners in flood risk areas in the city centre as they prepared for the worst. but he said everyone was thankful that the city escaped significant property damage.

“Flood warnings like this cause unnecessary stress. It has been an extremely difficult time for many traders over the last 18-months and if we can avoid situations like this, we should, especially when the city council has a solution in relation to flooding on Morrison’s Island,” he said.

“The delay on that project is disappointing but hopefully we will see progress on it in the coming months “It should be a priority for local government to get that flood defence scheme in place to protect citizens and business.”

In Kerry, flooding has been reported in a number of street in Tralee and in Kenmare. 

Closures:

The status red and orange wind warnings have led to a raft of closures.

A red warning is in place for Cork and Kerry until 9pm while Clare will have a red warning in place from 4pm until 1am tomorrow.

An orange warning until 6am tomorrow is in place for Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Mayo and Wexford while Dublin, Louth, Wicklow and East Meath fall under the orange warning from 8am until 1pm.

All schools and third-level education institutions covered by the Red and Orange weather warnings were advised not to open today.

The Department of Children advised that all early learning and care and school-age childcare services covered by the Red Alert and Orange warning should also not open.

The HSE has closed Covid-19 vaccination centres in Cork and Kerry, while the South/South West Hospital Group has cancelled all elective inpatient and outpatient appointments and procedures in Cork University Hospital, Bantry and Mallow General Hospitals, the Mercy University Hospital, the South Infirmary Victoria Hospital and University Hospital Kerry – except for time-critical cases.

Pembroke St in Cork is now also under some water but does not seem to have reached many businesses there #stormbarra pic.twitter.com/pRKUXXo2Z0

— Liz Dunphy (@LizDunphy1) December 7, 2021

All court sittings in Cork have been cancelled, the city’s historic English Market will close, while Aldi and Lidl are shutting all of their stores in Cork and Kerry for the day, while Aldi is closing its stores in Clare from 3pm.

Aer Lingus, which had cancelled its early morning flights from Cork Airport today, has now cancelled its Cork to London Heathrow service which was due to depart Cork at 5.30pm and its London Heathrow to Cork flight which was to arrive at Cork at 9pm.

KLM has also cancelled its 1.15pm flight from Cork to Amsterdam Schiphol.

Post offices in Cork and Kerry are closed today, while in Clare they will close from 2pm today. 

Driver theory test centres in Cork, Tralee and Killarney, will be closed and candidates who were due to test in these locations will be contacted to have their tests rescheduled.

Fota Wildlife Park and the giant Glow Cork Christmas Ferris Wheel on Grand Parade will also be closed.

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