STORM BARRA: Hundreds in Westmeath without power, and numerous trees down

Storm Barra took a significant toll on Westmeath last night, with hundreds of people in Moate and other areas currently without power, while several roads in the south of the county were blocked by fallen trees.

After a relatively uneventful start to yesterday, the storm winds picked up during the evening and night, causing disruption locally.

According to the ESB, two separate power outages in Moate last night have left over 800 of its customers without electricity. It's currently estimated that the power will be restored by 5pm today, according to the ESB's Power Check website.

A further 246 homes are without power in the general vicinity of Annagh, Ballykeeran, and this outage also has a current estimated repair time of 5pm.

Fallen trees have been reported at the Golden Mile in Athlone town, in Moate, Mount Temple, Baylin, Moydrum and Ballymore.

Local councillor Vinny McCormack said that, in addition to the power cuts in Moate, parts of Ballymore and areas along the road between Moate and Ballymore, were without electricity this morning.

"The ESB are trying to get to it, but obviously they're under a lot of pressure and in high demand today," said Cllr McCormack.

He said he contacted the council this morning with a list of eight fallen trees that he had been made aware of on local roads.

"There are a couple (of trees down) in Mount Temple, between Mount Temple and Baylin, blocking the road. There were a couple of them in Rosemount; one in Clare Hill, Ballymore; and one in Drumraney, heading towards Tang.

"I had eight different incidents of trees blocking roads, and also there are eir poles that are down in a couple of spots."

Assessing the overall impact of the storm, he said it had been quite localised, with Westmeath appearing to fare worse than some other parts of the Midlands.

"I've spoken to people in parts of Offaly and Laois who didn't seem to get it as bad as we got it for a few hours there last night. So it might have taken a few people by surprise.

"While the winds have died down a fair bit today, there may be a lot of branches or poles that have been loosened up and are ready to give way, so I think people need to continue to be careful when travelling on the rural roads for the next 24 hours or so," said Cllr McCormack.

A status yellow wind warning remains in effect for counties including Westmeath, Roscommon, Longford and Offaly up to 2pm today (Wednesday).