While it was downgraded to a mere tropical storm by the time it reached Scotland in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Hurricane Ophelia has been described as the worst storm to hit Ireland in 50 years.

On Sunday night, the Irish met office put the entire country on “red alert”. Schools and workplaces were closed. Farmers attempted to protect their infrastructure using silage bales to hold in gates and strapping slurry tankers to the roofs of sheds to stop them lifting off.

The hurricane moved up the Atlantic towards the southwest coast of Ireland, pulling down trees and wires from Monday morning onwards. While it only lasted a few hours, it claimed the lives of three people and wreaked havoc on farms.

Powerless

Over 360,000 electricity customers were left without power, and stories have emerged of dairy farmers being unable to milk their cows three days after the power went out. Crews are continuing to work on restoring power and have been joined in their efforts by 283 staff from electricity utilities in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, the Isle of Man and France.

Irish Co-ops have stepped in, with Glanbia texting its members to offer help with power and water outages. An estimated 500 Glanbia members were facing difficulties as a result of the storm on Tuesday night with the co-op appealing for generators.

The Farmers Journal visited some of the worst affected areas.