Thousands of homes around the country are currently without power.
Met Éireann has issued a Status Orange Gale Warning for Irish coastal regions on Thursday as Storm Hector brings a sharp end to the country’s almost month-long heatwave.
The national forecaster has warned that the regions from Slyne Head to Rossan Point to Fair Head will be affected particularly badly, as “southwest or westerly gales or strong gales” are to be expected Thursday morning on all Irish coastal waters and the Irish Sea.
The counties most affected are Donegal, Sligo, Galway and Mayo.
Becoming stormy overnight in coastal counties of Connacht & Ulster. Very windy elsewhere, especially over the N half of the country. Severe & potentially damaging gusts in NW areas as S winds veer westerly in direction. Clear spells & showers, heaviest in the N. Lows 10 to 13C pic.twitter.com/8RPSKva2iT
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) June 13, 2018
Thousands of homes around the country are also without power because of the weather.
At time of writing, power cuts have been reported in Cavan, Monaghan, Galway, Roscommon, Westmeath, Templeogue, Dublin and Blessington. The west of the country appears to be particularly badly affected.
The ESB took to Twitter to announce that their teams are working non-stop to restore power to those affected and that a Real Time Fault Information service is available on their website for those wishing to keep updated.
ESB https://t.co/VMtxFrW7FY provides Real Time Fault Information on all major faults. Check your area for faults here. It is also available as a mobile app. pic.twitter.com/dLTALaBc7v
— ESB Networks (@ESBNetworks) June 14, 2018
Causing all of this is Storm Hector, Ireland’s eighth storm this year, which is beating the country with gusts of up to 125km/hr and threats of coastal flooding.
A number of trees are down around the country because of it, blocking routes and adding to already congested morning traffic.
Slow down and drive with extra care this morning. Very strong gusts of wind currently affecting the Dublin area. Reports of fallen trees blocking Brookwood avenue and Mountpleasant ave.
— Traffic Management Centre (@DCCTraffic) June 14, 2018
#DUBLIN Fallen tree on Clogher Rd. More here: https://t.co/PSzIBsvOzE
— The AA Ireland (@aaroadwatch) June 14, 2018
@aaroadwatch @GalwayCoCo @Galwaybayfmnews Tree down at Lafferty's bar on the R339. It's only affecting outbound traffic #Galway #StormHector #weatheraware
— Ultan Burke (@uburke1) June 14, 2018
#LOUTH Trees down in and around Drogheda. More here: https://t.co/ipFDM8svNY
— The AA Ireland (@aaroadwatch) June 14, 2018
And it looks like Hector is only getting started…
According to Met Éireann, Thursday’s weather forecast is set to bring “severe and potentially damaging gusts as very strong southwest winds become westerly.”
“Stormy early this morning in coastal counties of Connacht and Ulster with severe and potentially damaging gusts as very strong southwest winds become westerly,” it began.
“Very windy elsewhere also, especially over the northern half of the country. From late morning onwards, winds will gradually ease. Sunny spells and scattered showers today, heaviest in the west and north. Highest temperatures 15 to 19 degrees.”
Thursday evening should bring lighter weather, with clear spells and scattered showers forecast mainly in the west and north forecast.
And it seems that the worst of Storm Hector will definitely be over by Friday, as “bright or sunny spells and scattered showers, heaviest and most frequent in the west and north” are forecast.
Friday evening will see more persistent rain develop in the west and extend eastwards. Highest temperatures of 14 – 18 degrees are also expected, with moderate southwest breezes.
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