Storm Claudia leaves flooding and power outages in its wake - but conditions set to stabilise today

"The national forecaster's Orange alert for counties Dublin, Wexford and Wicklow has been active since 12pm yesterday and expires this morning at 8am, affecting 1.7 million residents. Status Yellow rain warnings for 13 counties will expire at 9am this morning. Thousands of homes, farms and businesses were without power last night, the most notable areas affected being Birr, Co Offaly, and the Kilcullen/Newbridge area of Co Kildare. Several hundred homes in Dublin were hit, as were many counties along the eastern seaboard."

"Dublin City Council (DCC) said its flood response teams will "maintain an on-site presence throughout the weekend", and heavier rain in the Dublin Mountains may impact river levels. "The River Dodder requires particular vigilance this weekend," the DCC said in a statement. "Flood defence gates are in place from Beatty's Avenue to Bath Avenue until Saturday afternoon." All DCC parks will be closed until 11am today. Firefighters attended an incident in the Dublin Docklands involving fallen external cladding from a building side following high winds."

"Wexford County Council said surface water on the R772 off Junction 22 in Gorey "has nowhere to go", while the R741 north of Castlebridge was "impassable" yesterday evening. There were several instances of road closures due to fallen trees on the R730, Coolishal in Gorey, Ballykelly in New Ross and Bridgetown in Rosslare. Wicklow County Council reported "limited" flooding around the county, but is alerting residents of the potential for fallen trees which may continue to obstruct travel routes until removed."

An Orange alert covering Dublin, Wexford and Wicklow affected 1.7 million residents and remains in place until 8am, while Status Yellow rain warnings for 13 counties expire at 9am. Thousands of homes, farms and businesses experienced power loss overnight, with notable outages in Birr, Co Offaly, and the Kilcullen/Newbridge area of Co Kildare; several hundred Dublin homes and many eastern seaboard counties were also impacted. Dublin City Council has flood teams on site and flagged the River Dodder for vigilance, with flood defence gates deployed. Multiple roads closed due to fallen trees; Wexford reported impassable stretches and Cork kept a Level 1 flood response with pumping arrangements.

Read at Irish Independent