Status Red Storm Éowyn has brought record-breaking winds to Ireland leaving at least 715k homes and businesses without electricity.
Storm Éowyn's Status Red warnings in the Republic of Ireland are set to end at 12 pm, but the destruction of this record-breaking storm will take time to overcome.
Ireland's Electrical Service Board (ESB) has announced that over 715k homes and businesses are without power and it will take "at least a week" for all customers' electricity to be restored.
This is a record-breaking number of outages in Ireland.
Storm Éowyn has also broken wind speed records. At 5 am, Met Éireann's synoptic weather station at Ceann Mhása in Connemara, Co Galway was registering gusts as high as 183km/h (113.7m/h).
The previous record of 182km/h was recorded in Foynes, Co Limerick 80 years ago.
The highest gust record of 182 km/h set in 1945 at Foynes Co. Limerick has provisionally been broken during #StormÉowyn pic.twitter.com/9loiOz96l4
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) January 24, 2025
Gerry Murphy, Senior Forecaster at Met Éireann, spoke to RTÉ's Morning Ireland and warned that winds have not yet reached their strongest speeds in the northern half of the country. He added that more power outages are expected as well as structural damage to buildings.
Murphy told RTÉ: "People should not be out this morning. This warning has been well heralded over the last few days. It is a red, and a strong red, it's broken records. That means that areas which don't normally get winds of this magnitude are getting them in this instance."
He added: "People need to take the utmost care. It will all be over by this afternoon, so it's not much to give up this morning to stay safe."
Meanwhile, Ireland's National Emergency Coordination Group is to meet to consider how best to support ESB Networks and EirGrid. The group will seek the support of the Defence Forces and the Civil Defence, and local authorities to clear roads.
Chairperson Keith Leonard said: "We can't emphasise too strongly how careful people need to be in the next couple of days."
He stressed that the western seaboard has been especially badly affected and motorists must be prepared for downed trees and powerlines on the roads.
While Storm Éowyn passes over, Ireland is in for a weekend of further turbulent weather with Status Yellow rain warnings in effect for much of the country on Saturday and wintery showers forecast for Sunday.
#StormÉowyn is continuing to impact across the country. ‼️
Remember - during #OrangeWarnings 🟠⚠️ - limit travel to essential only and shelter in place as much as possible.#RedWarnings #OrangeWarnings #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/uOAIbnIzT0
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) January 24, 2025
The destruction of Storm Éowyn is still being assesed. In Mayo, the Connacht GAA Air Dome "has been left in tatters" according to the Irish Mirror.
"The Connacht centre of excellence in Bekan, Mayo, stood no chance as winds ripped the facility to shreds," they report.
Also in Limerick, a section of a stand at Fitzgerald Park, the Kilmallock GAA Club was destroyed as winds ripped off a large section of its roof.
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