Clean-up operations are anticipated to take days and possibly even weeks in some parts of Northern Ireland, with Storm Éowyn bringing gusts of over 90mph across some parts of the region.
NIE Networks reported this afternoon that as of 3:00pm, around 283,000 customers are without power as a result of the ‘once in a generation’ storm, and that they expect that number to rise.
In a totally unprecedented event, the number of those without electricity in the Republic of Ireland is up to approximately 725,000 homes, meaning over one million homes and businesses across the island currently have no power — something that has never happened before.
A rare red weather alert for wind was issued for Northern Ireland and the Republic early this morning.
In NI, that top-level warning was degraded to amber from 2pm, but widespread disruption and chaos has continued, with a number of houses, roads and cars damaged.
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A red alert means that there is a threat to life and some people in NI were lucky to miss serious injuries and potential death during the storm’s windiest elements.
A video clip of one man in Andersonstown in west Belfast has been circulating on social media after he was filmed trying to secure a trampoline in his back garden before a roof slate flies off and narrowly misses hitting him on the head.
In east Belfast, driver Pauleen Millar had a lucky escape when a tree came down on her car within seconds at the junction of Circular Road and Cairnburn Road.
Patients and staff at Craigavon Area Hospital also thankfully evaded injury after a window on a ward blew in, with a hospital spokesperson stating that the damage was mostly in non-clinical areas and would have a minor impact on services. However, fallen trees are still restricting access to a car park on the site.
Urban search and rescue teams were deployed following the collapse of a house in north Belfast, where part of the roof, attic and side of the building are missing.
All schools and public transport outlets have been closed, with the majority of workplaces advising employees to work from home.
Some businesses announced that they would reopen their doors later this afternoon once the red alert was finished, including Cityside Retail Park in north Belfast and Rushmere Shopping Centre in Craigavon.
The strongest gust of wind recorded in Northern Ireland today was 92.2mph at Killowen in Co Down during the early morning, which also marks the strongest wind gust on record for that record station ever.
It further broke the record for the strongest gust since 93mph was recorded at Ballykelly in Co Derry on Boxing Day, 1998.
The amber alert for wind will be replaced by a lower yellow warning from 9pm until midnight.
However, a yellow snow and ice warning is also in place from 7pm until 10am on Saturday.
A spokesperson for the Met Office said that the storm has passed through NI “pretty much as expected” and that it’s possible some winds may have reached up to 100mph on coastal areas, but that the national forecaster does not have observation centres there.
They noted that we aren’t out of the woods just yet either.
“At the moment, we’re entering into more unsettled, sort of disturbed weather. We’re expecting further areas of low pressure to approach from the west over the next few days. We’re not anticipating that to be as strong as the storm that’s just gone, but there are warnings of association with those, which for the moment are just yellows.”
A wind speed of 183kmh (114mph) brought by Storm Eowyn was also recorded in ROI, at Mace Head, Co Galway, at 5am — the fastest since records began, Irish forecaster Met Eireann said.
The strongest gust recorded in the UK so far is 100mph in Drumalbin, Scotland, where the effects of the storm are described as “once in a generation”.
Damages revealed as Storm Éowyn hits Northern Ireland