Thousands without power as Storm Aiden sweeps across the country

THOUSANDS OF HOUSES and shops are without power this morning as gusts of up to 130km / h hit the country.

A map of power outages across the country this morning

Source: ESB

A Status Orange wind warning was implemented this morning for Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork, Kerry and Waterford until 10am.

Another Status Orange wind advisory is still in effect for Donegal, Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Clare until 4pm.

There is a yellow state wind warning for the remaining counties until 4pm today.

Met Éireann has warned that Storm Aiden will bring average speeds of 65 to 80 km / h, with severe and damaging gusts of 100 to 130 km / h.

The high seas will lead to a risk of coastal flooding, the forecaster said.

More than 5,000 homes and businesses were without power this morning.

Around 2,000 customers are without power in Sallins, Co Kildare, while around 1,200 customers have also been without power in Kilkee, Co Clare.

ESB Networks crews are mobilizing in respective areas around the country as outages occur.

“While we expect a busy day as the storm moves north, the level of damage is not particularly unusual for a windy day at this time of year,” said an ESB spokesperson.

Updates for most of the glitches, along with expected restore times, can be found here.