Ireland awoke this morning to damage, destruction and "unprecedented flooding" wreaked by Storm Eleanor.
Strong winds buffeted Ireland over night and 55,000 people - mainly in Connacht and Ulster - awoke to find they had been left without power.
Storm Eleanor in Cork: my whole car is literally under water.
Storm Eleanor in Dublin: my hat comically blew straight off my head!!!!
— 🐐 (@local_hippo) January 2, 2018
At Knock Airport in Co. Mayo, a record wind speed of 97 mph was recorded and, as the storm worked its way east, it felled power lines and trees across the country, leaving many roads blocked off and commutes disrupted.
Rail service between Kilkenny and Waterford has been halted with a replacement bus service available for passengers. Certain Bus Éireann routes in Limerick have been cancelled until the flooding recedes.
#CorkFloods Flooding on the Bailick Road, #Midleton. Currently impassable. #StormEleanor Images: Bart H. pic.twitter.com/HJ8XVnoFZS
— Cork Safety Alerts (@CorkSafetyAlert) January 2, 2018
Storm Eleanor ripped through Northern Ireland last night - thousands of people are still without power - let us know if you have been affected pic.twitter.com/bLQEoLb75x
— The Nolan Show, BBC (@BBCNolan) January 3, 2018
Storm #Eleanor leaves trail of destruction in #NorthernIreland - trees felled, power cuts, traffic disruption https://t.co/idiBYW0Wam pic.twitter.com/QvEoupNL9j
— Belfast Telegraph (@BelTel) January 3, 2018
Nice of storm Eleanor to stop by to say hello this evening. #mayo #ireland #StormEleanor pic.twitter.com/VevYQyPFse
— Matthew 🦉 (@matt_h4) January 2, 2018
Along the western seaboard, flooding was severe, particularly in Galway City where businesses, homes and cars were all submerged as the Atlantic hurled itself past flood defenses into the City of Tribes.
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The flooding took meteorologists at Met Éireann (Ireland's national weather service) by surprise: the national forecaster had issued a Status Orange warning to the nation but warned only to expect high tides and winds.
As such, the "unprecedented flooding" was not expected by the City Council with many locals complaining about a shortage of sandbags that would have helped protect their property.
Flooding ‘back the West’ in Galway City. #stormeleanor pic.twitter.com/4OBBF7Cb2e
— Enda Cunningham (@endacunningham) January 2, 2018
Clean up operation underway in Galway city tonight following floods from #StormEleanor. Big concerns about early morning tide tomorrow pic.twitter.com/qVPuECnV1W
— Fergal O'Brien (@FergalOBrienTV3) January 2, 2018
“We put out a notice yesterday warning about the Status Orange level of winds and hide tide, but we didn’t expect this level of flooding when the warning went out, based on the forecast we were given,” a spokesman for the City Council told The Journal.ie.
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Three months on from Storm Ophelia, another major cleanup is underway. Whilst not as severe as her predecessor, the damage and disruption wreaked by Eleanor will likewise be with us for weeks, if not months yet.
Have you been badly effected by Storm Eleanor? Let us know about your experience in the comments section below.
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