It was a difficult morning milking in Ireland's dairy heartland after storm Callum began to move across the country overnight, shattering trees and power lines.
Of a peak of 60,000 customers disconnected at 4am, ESB Networks said 30,000 were still without power at 7am. Efforts continued to repair lines through the day, with the 10,000 remaining without electricity at noon expected to be reconnected by the end of the day. Most were in a band stretching across the southern half of the country from counties Kerry, Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Mayo and Monaghan.
"We are particularly appealing to farmers and landowners to be vigilant as fallen trees or branches may have fallen on, or be leaning against electricity wires," a spokesperson for ESB Networks said. "Please do not approach or touch the wires, trees or branches, as they are extremely dangerous. Report immediately to 1850 372 999."
Eir said that around 3,000 fixed telephone line customers were disconnected by the storm too.
Around 3,000 @eir fixed line customers are without service this morning due to #StormCallum That number may rise as reports come in. Wexford is most affected followed by Tipperary, Limerick, Cork. Our field team are working hard to repair damage as quickly and safely as possible.
— eir News (@eirNews) October 12, 2018
There were reports of multiple road closures in the same regions. AA Roadwatch warned of fallen trees blocking a number of roads and a mudslide cutting off the road between Cobh and Fota in Co Cork.
Gardaí added warnings of fallen trees and debris in Co Meath as the storm moved north on Friday morning.
Council crew clearing the road near Sneem on the N70 #StormCallum pic.twitter.com/QkS19Rb1bu
— Kerry County Council (@countykerry) October 12, 2018
A meeting of the Government's National Emergency Coordination Group on Friday morning issued a statement noting that "storm Callum tracked as forecast by Met Éireann with the worst of the storm affecting the west coast and fortunately did not hit in all areas as hard as it could have, resulting in minimal disruption". The group was stood down following the meeting.
The Teagasc/Glanbia farm walk scheduled today in Co Waterford has been cancelled as a result of the storm.
Please note that the Teagasc Glanbia Farm Walk due to be held this morning on the farm of Conor Beausang has been cancelled due to #StormCallum @GlanbiaConnect @Robmonitor pic.twitter.com/bverS1iXTE
— Teagasc (@teagasc) October 12, 2018
Met Éireann recorded the strongest winds along the west and south coasts, with gusts of over 100km/h in Co Cork and Co Kerry in the small hours of Friday. Gusts of 119km/h were recorded on Valentia Island at midnight.
As the storm tracked north, the coasts of Co Galway and Co Mayo were hit later in the morning, with gusts of 124km/h at Belmullet at 8am.
Forecast position of #StormCallum at noon today. pic.twitter.com/25P0e91mrD
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) October 12, 2018
Met Éireann updated previous weather warnings at 9:30am on Friday morning, keeping a status orange alert in place until 4pm for counties Donegal, Galway, Mayo and Sligo. A status yellow warning is in place in Northern Ireland until midnight on Friday. Alerts have been lifted for other areas. Heavy rainfall is forecast to continue after the storm abates.
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