Fallen trees, power outages, heavy rain, hail and snow showers were the order of the day across Ireland with over 200,000 households without power, as Storm Darwin now begins moving northwards across Ireland. The ESB has warned that the majority of those still without power will not have it restored overnight.
Gardaí and County Council officials are advising people to stay indoors and avoid any unnecessary travel.
Reports of damage here in Thurles, just coming in, claim that a portion of the Palatine College roof has been blown off and possibly three cars, parked in the grounds of the Anner Hotel, have been damaged by a fallen tree.
We have reports also of a car, parked close to St Teresa’s Nursing Home on the Dublin road out of Thurles town, being badly damaged, also by a fallen tree. A truck has also been overturned by hurricane winds on the M8 northbound between J10 Cahir North and J9 Cashel South.
Gardaí also report that at least forty secondary routes throughout Co Tipperary have been blocked by fallen trees, telephone poles and other debris. Commuters are being strongly advised to use the main routes in the morning as same are likely to be cleared of debris first and also due to the high volume of trees and electrical cables down on Regional roads and secondary routes.
With severe icy conditions promised for the morning motorists are reminded that gritting & salting will only apply to main road networks. Please also keep in mind that this will bring a lot of extra traffic onto our main routes, so allow yourself plenty of extra time to reach your destination.
Some schools with power outages may also remain closed tomorrow, so best to check before venturing out and about.
The severe winds will continue to slowly abate with some sudden minor gusts across Tipperary.
Lots of news early in the morning from Thurles Info.