By Cillian Sherlock
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A man has been seriously injured and about 234,000 properties are without power across the island of Ireland as Storm Amy brings widespread disruption
The storm also brought localised flooding, fallen trees, transport disruption and school closures.
The Republic of Ireland’s forecasting agency issued its highest-level wind warning in Co Donegal, where residents were were advised to shelter in place between 4pm and 6pm.
The red wind warning meant fallen trees, damage to power lines, dangerous travelling conditions, structural damage and wave overtopping.
Gardai said they were treating an incident where a man was seriously injured in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, shortly after 4.15pm, as weather-related.
The Electricity Supply Board (ESB) said approximately 184,000 homes, farms and businesses across the Republic of Ireland were without power at 5.15pm.
The ESB said affected properties were predominantly in counties Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim, Cavan and Donegal.
It also warned that further power outages can be expected.
A spokesman said: “Crews will continue the restoration work for as long as possible this evening, but it is likely that the majority of customers will not have their power restored tonight due to the hazardous weather conditions and accessibility challenges.”
Schools across a large part of Northern Ireland were advised to close early as the high winds brought disruption.
Around 50,000 properties are without power in Northern Ireland and NIE Networks said there had been a “significant level of damage to the electricity networks” in the region.
It also said the number without power is expected to rise.
Alex Houston, NIE Networks operations manager, said: “Our incident management centre in Craigavon has been opened as have our local incident centres across Northern Ireland with staff across the company being escalated to assist with the response effort.
“We have mobilised additional call agents to deal with any queries customers may have regarding the repair process in their area.”
A provisional October wind gust record for Northern Ireland was set as 92mph winds were measured at Magilligan in Co Londonderry, the Met Office said.
Flights and trains have been impacted and a number of roads were closed in the region due to fallen trees, including part of the M1.
Forecasters said there would be damaging winds with every county on the island under weather warnings on Friday.
The UK Met Office said wind speeds could reach up to 80mph (130kph) along the most exposed coastal areas of the island, with fallen trees and power outages among the potential impacts.
In Northern Ireland, a yellow wind warning was put in place for the entire region between 2pm on Friday and midnight on Saturday.
A yellow rain warning is in place for the region until midday on Saturday, with the Met Office warning the flooding of homes and business is possible.
An additional amber wind warning was put in place for Antrim, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Londonderry between 3pm and 8pm on Friday, and the Education Authority said a decision to shut schools from noon had been taken in the interest of the safety of children, young people and staff.
The Met Office said Storm Amy is likely to bring a period of damaging south to south-westerly winds during the late afternoon and evening on Friday, with gusts of 60-70mph (97-113kph) inland and up to 80mph along some more exposed coasts.
It said power outages could affect other services such as mobile phone coverage.
The agency warned there will “probably” be some damage to buildings such as tiles blown from roofs.
Forecasters also warned of a risk of injury and danger to life through flying debris and large waves.
The weather will also affect commuters, with longer journey times and cancellations on public transport expected.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it may be necessary to close some routes and advised road users to consider if their journey is necessary, reduce speed, and “take extra care if you must travel”.
In the Republic of Ireland, Met Eireann issued a nationwide yellow wind warning between midday and midnight on Friday.
It forecast gale-force winds in the west and north west, and extended a more severe orange wind warning to Co Clare on Friday, in place between 2pm and 10pm.
Clare joined the orange warning that was in place for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo, where Met Eireann warned of large waves and possible power outages.
Gusts of up to 130kph (80mph) were recorded at Malin Head in Co Donegal at 3pm, while consistent wind speeds of up to 89kph (55mph) were recorded elsewhere in the county at Finner Camp.
The most severe conditions were forecast for Co Donegal where a Red wind warning was put in place.
Keith Leonard, from the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management, told RTE’s News At One: “If I had one key message it would be for that period from 4 to 6 in Donegal this afternoon, to ask people to shelter in place for that amount of time and to be very careful on the roads before that warning comes into place and after it’s gone through.”
Mr Leonard said the storm will also feature “a lot of rainfall” and that fallen trees are likely to be an issue.
The conditions led to some flight cancellations in and out of the country’s airports.
At sea and along the coast, there is also a red warning from Loop Head to Rossan Point to Fair Head between 2pm and 8pm.
On Saturday there will be further yellow warnings, for wind in Dublin, Louth and Wicklow between 6am and noon; a combined wind and rain warning for Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo between midnight and noon; and a wind warning for Clare, Kerry, Galway and Mayo also between midnight and noon.
