Over six thousand homes and businesses in Tullamore left without power

ALMOST 6,483 homes and businesses in the Tullamore area are without power this morning following severe gusts overnight.

There are two figures for those affected by a fault at Srah, depending on which area you are living in, they are 4274 and 1073. 94 customers are affected in Blueball, due to a fault in Lumcloon. In Clara the figure is 1072 customers.

The ESB is unable to give a restoration time at the moment but says it is assessing the damage to the electricity network.

''We'll provide updates on the estimated restoration times as soon as crews have evaluated impacted areas,'' it states.

Winds of up to 131 km/h pounded Tullamore last night. A red alert will remain in place until noon when it will convert to orange and then yellow at 1pm.

Met Eireann say Storm Eowyn will continue to bring mostly gale to storm force southwest to west winds for a time with destructive and damaging gusts.

Most shops, schools and businesses in Tullamore have remained closed this morning. Shops will reopen at noon or when the red alert is lifted.