Thousands of homes without power due to Storm Barra

Donegal was the county most affected on Tuesday morning.

Thousands of homes have been left without electricity as Storm Barra continues to batter the country. ESB Networks has recorded faults throughout Ireland, with the majority occurring in coastal counties. The most heavily impacted area on Tuesday morning was Donegal, where nearly 15,000 customers have been affected by a fault in Ardnagappary. Met Éireann had forecasted that Storm Barra would bring gale-force winds with gusts of over 130 km/h on Tuesday to the southwest of Ireland in particular. As of 9.30am on Tuesday, red alerts have been issued for Clare, Cork and Kerry, while orange alerts have been put out for Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow. Gardaí have warned the public not to make any unnecessary journeys in areas with red or orange weather warnings. In a statement, ESB Networks had said that Storm Barra's winds may cause damage to electricity infrastructure, with a loss of electricity supply expected. "ESB Networks crews around the country have been making the necessary preparations in advance of the high winds, with all internal resources on alert," it said. "We continually monitor the forecasts and real-time events on the electricity network and will deploy our crews to restore supply when it is safe to do so. "If you come across fallen wires or damaged electricity networks, never, ever touch or approach these as they are LIVE and extremely dangerous. "Please report any damage to electricity infrastructure by calling 1800 372 999." Customers without power can check for updates on when their fault is expected to be repaired at www.powercheck.ie.