600 homes and businesses without power in Laois as ESB issues update

There are currently around 600 homes and businesses without power in Laois, according to the ESB who have provided an update on Sunday evening as they work to restore electricity supplies across the country. 

As of 5.15pm on Sunday approximately 59,000 homes, farms and businesses were without power nationally, predominantly in counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Carlow, Laois and Wicklow. 

A status orange warning for snow an ice remains in place until 8pm which will be followed by a status yellow warning until 10pm in Laois. 

Separately Met Eireann has also issued a status yellow low temperature and ice warning for Laois that will remain in place until 12.00 on Thursday, January 9. This will lead to very cold nights with widespread frost and ice with temperatures struggling to get above freezing during the day. 

The ESB said because of the dynamic nature of the event further power outages can be expected. 

"ESB Networks crews and partner contractors have been deployed since early morning to assess the damage, make the network safe and restoring electricity supply in challenging conditions. All ESB Networks teams are mobilised and are continuing to restore power where it is safe to do so," said the ESB statement. 

"From our experience of previous significant weather events, we expect that power restoration in the worst affected areas will take multiple days. The freezing temperatures and hazardous conditions are slowing restoration efforts. Our crews will continue the restoration for as long as possible this evening but, with the difficult conditions, it is likely that the majority of customers will not have their power restored tonight.   

"We acknowledge the disruption to family and commercial life this causes and thank impacted customers for their patience as our crews work to safely restore power."

Real-time information on power outages are being updated on www.PowerCheck.ie throughout this evening and tomorrow.