Met Éireann has issued a number of new weather warnings covering the entire island on Sunday, with unsettled weather set to continue in the wake of Storm Eunice.
The storm claimed the lives of at least nine people across Europe after it struck the west coast of Ireland in the early hours of Friday, including a Wexford County Council worker named locally as Billy Kinsella who died after being hit by a falling tree.
With clean-up efforts and work to restore power to thousands of homes and businesses under way this afternoon, the national forecaster issued further status-yellow rain and wind warnings as it forecast a “wet and windy” Sunday.
A status-yellow rain warning for Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo will come into force at 6pm this evening and run for 24 hours, with Met Éireann warning that heavy showers will lead to localised flooding in places.
During the early hours of Sunday, a status-yellow wind warning for Cork, Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Donegal and all of Connacht will take effect, running from 5am until 9am on Monday.
Wind warning for Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Tipperary, Waterford. Valid 11:00 Sunday 20/02/2022 to 09:00 Monday 21/02/2022.
Wind warning for Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Donegal, Connacht updated. 💨💨
For all active warnings see ➡️ https://t.co/NY5ffB0Z2M pic.twitter.com/lNnGfXvDjjAdvertisement— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) February 19, 2022
Strong winds, surge and large waves may lead to wave overtopping, Met Éireann said, and flooding is possible along coasts.
Later on Sunday morning, a status-yellow wind warning for all of Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Tipperary and Waterford will come into force at 11am and run until 9am on Monday.
The UK Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning for the six counties of Northern Ireland for most of Sunday, warning that winds will cause the most disruption on Sunday night.
Storm Eunice aftermath
Thousands of homes and businesses remained without power this morning as a result of Storm Eunice, with the worst-affected areas in the south of the country.
At lunchtime, the ESB said it had restored power to some 73,000 customers in just over 24 hours.
Tributes have been paid to a 59-year-old Wexford council worker who died after being hit by a falling tree while clearing debris from a road close to his home in Co Wexford.
Eight more deaths were recorded across Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands as Storm Eunice brought record winds of up to 196km/h and caused widespread destruction.
