The maintenance crew at Fastnet Lighthouse off County Cork captured the breathtaking power of the "weather bomb" Storm Barra with huge sea swells as storm due to continue through Wednesday.
Footage captured by the maintenance crew at Fastnet Lighthouse, in west Cork, has gone viral. The videos released on the lighthouse's social media show incredible swells off the southwest coast as Storm Barra landed on Tuesday.
Incredible footage captured by lighthouse keeper Ronnie O’Driscoll at #fastnet lighthouse… #stormbarra pic.twitter.com/TIFMR7I7vY
— Declan H (@sirdeco) December 7, 2021
Four lighthouse workers have been stranded at the lighthouse since last Friday due to stormy conditions. They were due to return to land on Tuesday by helicopter but Storm Barra had different ideas.
Gusts of 98 mph / 159 km/h were recorded at the lighthouse on Tuesday, however Irish Lights electronic engineer Paul Barron told the Irish Times Fastnet was a safe place to be.
He and his colleagues, Ronnie O’Driscoll, Dave Purdy and Malcolm Gillies, passed the storm "watching Netflix and having a few steaks and rashers." They also said it was a day to remember, passing Storm Barra 54 meters above sea level.
Barron said he captured the footage of the 9 ft swells and added that it was so loud in the lighthouse at times that they couldn't hear each other speak.
The team hopes to return to the mainland on Thursday.
Schools closed and power out
As Storm Barra's high winds and rain continue schools across Ireland remained closed with weather warnings in effect. This means schools in Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Mayo and Wexford remain closed. The same advice has been issued to universities, colleges and third-level institutions, childcare facilities and creches.
Thousands of businesses and homes have also been left without power. It is expected that some people will remain without power on Wednesday and possibly later in the week. The ESB reported almost 60,000 homes were without power on Wednesday morning. However, the ESB said workers continued their efforts to restore power where it was safe to do so.
Met Éireann has said winds will not fully abate until later on Wednesday.
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