Some 60,000 homes, farms and business premises were left without power overnight, as the strong winds brought by storm Bert wreaked particular destruction to counties in the west and northwest.

Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Cavan, Monaghan, Kerry and Cork are among the most affected counties.

ESB Networks has said that crews and contractors are working to return power where it is safe to do so, but warned of the possibility of further outages as storm Bert is set to remain for much of the weekend.

Estimated restoration times are can be found at on www.PowerCheck.ie and www.ESBNetworks.ie and will be updated as fault sites are assessed and restoration work continues.

The public has been reminded that fallen or damaged electricity wires should never be touched, as they could be live and extremely dangerous.

Those who find damage to electricity infrastructure have been asked to call 1800 372 999.

Over 75mm of rainfall fell in Midleton, Co Cork, over the last 24 hours, with over 50mm recorded across parts of counties Galway and Mayo.

Record flood levels have been reported for the Feale in Listowel, as water levels 240mm above the previous record set in 1973 were clocked at 9.30am on Saturday.

Flooding and downed trees have been reported to be obstructing roads in counties Limerick, Kerry, Cavan, Galway, Mayo and Cork.

Land slides

Ray Ó Foghlú spoke with the Irish Farmers Journal from Leenaun on the Galway-Mayo border after seeing four land slippages in the aftermath of the storm and hearing of another three from passersby.

“At 10 o’clock last night, there was nothing and when we woke up it was calm too. It was whatever rain fell overnight,” Ó Foghlú said.

“It seems like snow left the ground sodden and when the deluge came, there was slippages everywhere.

“Every route out of Leenaun is blocked, but the roads do not seem damaged, so they should be open soon enough.”

Forecast

Met Éireann has stated that while conditions may clear during the day, further heavy rainfall is to be expected.

Rain will turn heavy in some places, with a chance of hail and thunder in some parts.

Very strong to gusty winds are forecast to calm for a while before picking up to strong gusty again in the evening, with the strongest winds expected in the south and southeast.

The national forecaster has issued a status yellow wind warning for six counties on Sunday.

Counties Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo will remain under a status yellow wind warning between 8am Sunday and 2am Monday.

From 8am Sunday, the same warning will apply in counties Clare, Galway and Kerry, with this expected to be lifted at 7pm Sunday.

The storm is expected to bring winds up to gale force in these counties, with these winds to be strongest in coastal parts.

Met Éireann has warned the public in these counties to remain cautious of fallen trees, displaced objects and difficult travelling conditions.