Donegal prepares for the tail end of Storm Barra

Donegal was bracing for the tail end of Storm Barra on Tuesday night amid warnings about “damaging gusts”and potential flooding.

Met Éireann issued a status orange weather warning for the county, which comes into effect from 2am and runs until Wednesday afternoon, with wind speeds forecast to reach 130km/h and disruption to power supplies and travel.

Donegal County Council has deployed sandbags at several locations where there is a risk of flooding. These included Donegal Town, Carndonagh, Ramelton, Dunfanaghy, Burtonport and Burnfoot. Sandbags are available to those in need at council depots in each of the municipal districts.

Some Covid-19 vaccination centres have deferred appointments until Wednesday afternoon, when better weather is expected.

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Donegal escaped the worst of the storm on Tuesday, though there was snow in areas including Dunlewey and Meenaroy. Up to 18,000 properties in and around Falcarragh and Creeslough needed to have their electricty supply restored.

Northern Ireland

Thousands of homes in Northern Ireland lost power as a result of the storm, but the problems had been remedied in large part last night. NIE Networks said the winds and adverse weather caused a low level of damage to the network.

Gusts of 122km/h were recorded at Orlock Head, Co Down, and wind speeds reached 114km/h at Magilligan, Co Derry, which were among the strongest reported by the UK Met Office.

The Belfast Christmas Market at City Hall closed for the day, as did several National Trust sites. In Derry, police and fire crews dealt with fallen scaffolding at the junction of Academic Road and Rosemount Avenue. – Additional reporting: PA