18,000 homes and businesses in the Republic of Ireland and 10,000 in Northern Ireland were without power Monday after the third storm to hit the island in less than a week.
Areas worst affected from Storm Franklin included counties Sligo and Donegal where damage was caused by falling trees and power lines, while there was flooding in parts of Donegal and Tyrone. At its height, the storm’s strongest gust was at 140km (87mph) at Mace Head in County Galway.
Storm Franklin was the third storm, coming after Storm Dudley and Storm Eunice which brought their own damage. Storm Eunice brought with a gust of over 106mph off the Cork coast.
On Friday, a council worker in County Wexford died after being struck by a fallen tree. Since the middle of last week Ireland has been in the grip of blustery and wintry conditions, combined with heavy rain. On Friday there were blizzard conditions in parts of the country and driving was treacherous for drivers.
Many flights and ferries were cancelled as Storm Eunice made landfall on Friday.
With the latest storm moving to the east Met Éireann is warning of colder temperatures moving in in the coming days.
Meteorologist Deirdre Lowe said: “We are expecting a plunge of cold air to come down after a cold front clears through on Wednesday evening and Wednesday night.
“At this stage, we could get some sleet and snow showers and some possible accumulations of snow, particularly in high ground.”
In County Donegal on Sunday the roof of the clubhouse at Na Rosa GAA in Leitir Mhic a’Bhaird was blown off and strewn across the pitch.
Meanwhile, the Wexford County Council employee who died after being struck by a tree as he was clearing debris caused by Storm Eunice has been named as 59-year-old Billy Kinsella.
In a statement, Wexford County Council said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the employee’s family, work colleagues and friends at this very difficult time.”
Three people died in Britain as severe damage was caused during the same Storm Eunice.
