Ophelia brings further disruption as hundreds of thousands left without power

Storm Ophelia has caused further disruption after three people died in hurricane-force winds and hundreds of thousands were left without power.

Ireland and Northern Ireland bore the brunt of the storm as it battered the British Isles, with more than 200,000 homes and businesses still without power in the republic on Tuesday.

Scotland was braced for gusts of up to 70mph on Tuesday and flood warnings were in place on its west coast as the remnants of the hurricane hit the country and northern England.

Storm Ophelia predicted path
Storm Ophelia predicted path

Commuters were hit by delays caused by the weather, with several rail lines blocked by fallen trees and other problems.

Train services were temporarily hit between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and from the capital to Aberdeen, Dundee and Perth, as trees were blown on to tracks.

In Glasgow part of a derelict block of flats already earmarked for partial demolition collapsed at about 4am, and a scout hall roof was blown off in Dumfries and Galloway as the region took the brunt of winds up to 77mph.

In Cumbria the county council said that high winds had torn the roof from a house in Whitehaven and even torn traffic lights from their poles, as well as causing traffic disruption.

Part of the roof of a stand at National League team Barrow AFC was also ripped off by the wind.

Ireland experienced the worst of the weather on Monday, with winds of almost 100mph damaging electricity networks and causing widespread disruption.

Wind speeds reached 97mph (156kph) in County Cork on Monday, while the UK's strongest gales reached 90mph (145kph) in Gwynedd, north Wales, the Met Office said.

Storm Ophelia, strongest gusts in Ireland
Storm Ophelia, strongest gusts in Ireland

About 216,000 Irish customers were still without power on Tuesday afternoon, with the worst damage in the southern part of the Republic.

In that area, around 80,000 people remain without water, a number expected to rise.

People in the worst affected areas from Wexford to Skibbereen in Co Cork, have been asked to conserve their water supply as far as possible while repair work continues as reservoirs are re-filled.

Irish Defence Force soldiers have been deployed with vehicles and helicopters to help assess damage as thousands of staff from ESB, the Republic of Ireland's electricity network, worked to fix fallen and broken cables.

Cork City Council crews out since early this morning clearing trees #Opheliapic.twitter.com/9Iiwu1MF5r

-- Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) October 17, 2017

Fintan Goss, 33, died in Ravensdale, Dundalk, when a car he was in was hit by a tree at about 2.45pm, gardai said.

Mr Goss, who had become a father for the second time just weeks ago, was returning home from work and was just 10 minutes from home when the accident happened, Louth county councillor John McGahon said.

In Cahir, Co Tipperary, a 31-year-old named locally as Michael Pyke was killed in a chainsaw accident when he was trying to clear a tree downed by the wind.

His death came after a woman driver in her 50s died when a tree fell on her car in strong winds near Aglish village in Co Waterford.

(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By PA Reporters');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'b3d36ade-a6a2-46d5-a172-c6faebd10f88');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:news,paservice:news:uk');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story-enriched');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', 'paasset:graphic,paasset:video');ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', null);ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Ophelia brings further disruption as hundreds of thousands left without power'});

Advertisement