Storm Isha: Man dies in Limavady crash and community centres opened as thousands of people still without electricity

A man in his sixties has died after his car struck a tree and another vehicle on Sunday evening during Storm Isha in Limavady as another, less intense, storm is forecast for tomorrow.

He was the driver of a Vauxhall Vivaro van which was involved in a collision with a fallen tree and another vehicle at around 9.45pm on Sunday 21 January.

The male driver of the other van involved, a Citreon Berlingo, has been taken to hospital for treatment.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service was called to the Broad Road area and said after assessment and initial treatment at the scene, two patients were taken to Altnagelvin Hospital.

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The road has now reopened. Police are appealing for witnesses to the crash.

It follows the death of an 84-year-old man in central Scotland after a car he was travelling in was also hit by a tree on Sunday night.

East Derry MLA Claire Sugden said it was a “devastating consequence of last night’s storm”.

“My condolences to his family and friends,” she added.

Thousands of homes were left without power and airport activity was disrupted as Storm Isha swept “destructive” winds across the island of Ireland and Britain. By 5pm today NIE said around thousands of customers were still without power after last night’s high winds.

NIE said it was working with local councils to open community centres in Lisburn Leisureplex, Brownlow Hub Craigavon and Fermanagh Lakeland Forum from 6-9pm for people without electricity who could avail of a shower and hot drink and somewhere to charge electrical devices.

Translink is reporting “significant knock-on delays/disruption to services on all lines today” and Sandy Lane outside Lisburn is closed due to a fallen tree causing an obstruction.

Meanwhile, the next storm of the season has been named by the forecaster Met Eireann. Storm Jocelyn is forecast to bring strong winds and heavy rain tomorrow and into Wednesday.

Gusts of more than 80mph were recorded at Magilligan in Co Derry overnight. The Met Office said the highest recorded wind speed during Storm Isha was 99mph at Brizlee Wood in Northumberland, with gusts of 90mph at Capel Curig in Snowdonia on Sunday.

Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) Networks said this morning that 40,000 customers were without power, with 53,000 hit by outages at the height of the storm. The worst affected areas are Dungannon, Downpatrick, Enniskillen, Newry and Omagh.

The ESB said 155,000 homes and businesses in the Republic of Ireland were without power by 12.35pm, down from 230,000 at its peak, with the worst-impacted areas in the north west.

A woman from Northern Ireland said Storm Isha has brought “the worst damage we’ve seen in this area” after a row of five trees were felled in front of her house following strong winds last night.

Lisa Wilton, 47, from County Down, shared a video of the fallen trees to X, formerly Twitter, showing the large tree trunks spanning the width of her driveway where they had uprooted and toppled over during the storm.

Ms Wilton, a user researcher in software design, told PA: “It’s the worst damage we’ve seen in this area. We’re just glad nobody was hurt and the house and car are ok.

“We can’t get the car out at all so we’ll be unable to go anywhere. Luckily I work from home but we’ll definitely need quite a lot of chainsaw work out there.”

She added: “We looked outside last night and spotted a gap in the tree line. I went with the torch to see if we had lost a tree but couldn’t believe the whole row of five trees had gone.”

Authorities across the island have reported fallen trees on roads and urged people not to try to move trees as there may be electricity lines tangled in them.

The PSNI said between 3.30pm yesterday and 2am today officers dealt with around 600 storm-related calls.

Dublin Airport said winds had eased and the first wave of flights today continued “without restrictions”, but because of delays caused by Storm Isha, 29 flights in and out of Dublin had been cancelled today.

TrafficWatchNI said in excess of 1,000 obstructions had been reported across Northern Ireland’s road network since Sunday afternoon.

Nettlefield Primary School on Radnor Street in Belfast is closed today due to adverse weather conditions from Storm Isha.

The storm has also damaged and felled a number of trees in Northern Ireland made famous by series Game of Thrones.

Work is ongoing to clear the site at the Dark Hedges in Co Antrim.

The tunnel of trees became famous when it was featured in the HBO fantasy series and now attracts significant numbers of tourists from around the world.Mervyn Storey, chairman of the Dark Hedges Preservation Trust, said: “It looks like there are three trees down.

“We have had people out since dawn trying to clear the road. There are a number of other trees down in the area as well.

“This is another blow to the Dark Hedges.

“In fact one of the trees that was healthy has been blown down. It is very sad.”

A Status Yellow wind warning is in place for counties Donegal, Galway, Mayo, Clare, Leitrim and Sligo until 7pm, and further Status Yellow wind warnings are in place for the entire island tomorrow and into Wednesday.

Very strong winds are expected in these areas, which can lead to large coastal waves, difficult travelling conditions and objects becoming loose and displaced.

In Northern Ireland, a yellow wind warning ended at noon today.

The Met Office said strong winds from Storm Isha are likely to bring “some disruption” to travel and utilities.

Tomorrow, Storm Jocelyn is to bring further risk of large waves along coastal areas, difficult travelling conditions, fallen trees, damage to power lines, and possible damage to already weakened structures.

Status Orange warnings will be in place from 6pm tomorrow until midnight for Galway and Mayo, and from 6pm tomorrow until 2am on Wednesday for Donegal.

Status Yellow warnings are in place for all other counties from tomorrow afternoon until the early hours of Wednesday.

In Northern Ireland, yellow wind warnings will be in place for counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, and Derry, with strong winds expected from 4pm tomorrow until noon on Wednesday.

One person was struck by falling debris yesterday after scaffolding became dislodged in Belfast. They were treated at the scene by emergency services.

Chief Superintendent Davy Beck said many roads across Northern Ireland remained impassable this morning.

He said in a statement: “Between 3.30pm on Sunday 21st January and 2am on Monday 22nd January officers dealt with over 1,300 calls from the public, approximately 600 of these related to the storm.

“There is also a continued risk of significant debris on the road network as wind speeds remain high throughout Monday.

“A multi-agency response continues to deal with the aftermath and recovery from Storm Isha, and we thank the public for their continued patience and understanding.”

In the Republic two people died in separate road traffic collisions. A woman died in a road crash in Co Louth in the early hours of this morning when the van she was a passenger struck a tree in Carnalogue shortly before 2am. Last night, a man in his 40s died at the scene after the car he was driving crashed on the N17 at Lisduff in Claremorris, Co Mayo.

Translink, the bus and rail operator, issued a notice warning of delays and disruptions due to poor weather conditions on the Portadown, Larne, Portrush and Derry lines.

The Met Office warned yesterday a tornado could hit western parts of the UK after the research organisation Torro said Ireland, Northern Ireland, parts of Scotland and northern England were “tornado watch” zones.

Paul Rock, who chaired a meeting of the National Emergency Co-ordination yesterday morning, said it is a “particularly nasty” storm in an “unusual” storm season.

“We don’t want anyone dying as a result of this storm,” he told RTE Radio.

Mr Rock asked people to avoid coastal areas during the Met Eireann warnings and for all road users to be aware of hazardous conditions, including debris, and urged people not to touch fallen electricity wires.

Bus Eireann suspended its town, city and intercity services in Mayo and Galway from 4pm on Sunday.

As the status red warning came into effect at 5pm, the metal clocktower on top of the Thirteen on the Green bar at Eyre’s Square in Galway city fell on to the path below.

For other counties, a status orange wind warning was in place from 4pm or 5pm on Sunday until 2am or 3am today, bringing with it the threat of large coastal waves, very difficult travelling conditions, fallen trees and damage to power lines.

This warning is to reduce to a status yellow warning until 4am on Monday, when all Met Eireann warnings are lifted.

Status red marine warnings were also in place, bringing rough sea conditions, and the coastguard advised people to be aware of large breaking waves.

The ESB said that at 8.35pm yesterday more than 170,000 homes, farms and businesses were without power.

In Northern Ireland, an amber weather warning was issued for all counties from 6pm on Sunday until 6am on Monday, bringing “very strong winds”.

The Department for Infrastructure said that despite contingency measures, public workers’ strike action may disrupt any responses to incidents such as debris on roads and floods.