LIVE: More than 560,000 homes without power as Storm Éowyn continues to batter Ireland
Every county across the country is now under a Met Éireann status red wind warning
ESB Networks says more than 560,000 homes, farms and businesses are without power this Friday morning as Storm Éowyn continues to make its way across the country.
As of 7am, every county is under a status red wind warning and it's expected the number of people without power will increase further over the coming hours.
ESB Networks says its crews and contractors are on standby and will be deployed as soon as it is safe to do so.
"We have 560,000 customers currently without power and we do actually anticipate significant further outages as the morning continues. We has sustained damage right across the country with power outages right across the whole country," Siobhan Wynne of ESB Networks told Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1.
"At this stage, we have customers nationwide who have been impacted - I would say it's up into the midlands and into the north west where we have the most significant numbers right now but we do know, obviously, that the storm is still in cull force so we can expect further outages right across the country," she added.
ESB Networks says it expects it will take a number of days before all customers have their power restored.
"We appreciate it's going to be difficult over the next number of days. We will get our crews out once it is safe to do so to start assessing the damage and to start restoring power," said Siobhan Wynne.