Shaky ground during Atiyah

Roads were blocked and hundreds of homes across Cork and Kerry were left without power this week in the wake of Storm Atiyah, although there were no reports of any major safety incidents.

As the storm approached from the south west, Met Éireann issued a status orange weather alert in nine counties including Cork. The alert was lifted at 6am on Monday morning as winds began to die down.

Looking ahead, Cork is set for a cold snap over the weekend with sunny spells and showers expected on Friday. It will continue to be cold and showery during the weekend while frost is likely at night with minimum temperatures close to or below freezing.

Cork City Fire Brigade reported that crews responded to multiple calls during the storm including trees down and dangerous building reports. However, no injuries were reported at any incident.

Power outages were reported in a number of areas including Blarney, Tower, Mallow and Cobh, with ESB crews still working to restore services.

On Monday there were still close to 7,000 ESB customers without power, with counties Cork and Kerry some of the worst affected.

As of Wednesday evening a remaining 102 customers were without power, with normal services returned to the majority of customers.

Cork Safety Alerts, a website which provides updates on traffic, travel and general safety, had a busy night on Sunday night, with updates continuing into Monday morning of fallen trees in Cobh, Midleton, Innishannon, Ballyvolane, Lisgoold, Tower, and more.

One motorist in Cork had a lucky escape when a tree fell on their vehicle. The driver was miraculously uninjured by the large tree which caused extensive damage to the vehicle.

There was also a report of an airborne trampoline which was blown onto the main road in Turner’s Cross.