Storm Ophelia: second person killed in Ireland, police confirm - as it happened

The storm has ripped off roofs in Cork, according to dramatic footage and photographs.

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The fatal accident occurred in Aglish in west Waterford around 11.40am.

The victim is a woman in her 20s and was travelling in the car with another woman who was also hurt. Reports from the county say the limb of a tree pierced the windscreen of the vehicle during the storm.

The woman was taken to Waterford University hospital but was pronounced dead before arriving. A woman in the car with her was treated for non-life threatening injuries.

• A woman has been killed in Waterford, south-east Ireland as Tropical Storm Ophelia batters Ireland with winds of more than 100mph. Waterford council said the woman was killed when high winds brought down a tree on her car in Aglish.
• At least 120,000 homes and businesses are without power amid scores of reports of fallen trees and power lines. The main electricity supplier warned that it expects more to lose power by the end of the day and disruption could last all week.
• The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, issued a personal appeal for citizens of the Republic to remain indoors. He described the impact of Ophelia on Ireland as a “national emergency”.
• Bill Clinton’s visit to Belfast was cancelled because of the storm. The former US president was due to meet political parties represented in the Stormont parliament to urge them to find a way to restore the power-sharing government. Government buildings in Northern Ireland have been closed.
• The Met Office has extended an amber weather warning to parts of Scotland, Wales and northern England with winds threatening power cuts and falling debris. A series of flood alerts and warnings are in place for south west and north west England. Planes have been grounded at Manchester airport, with 20 flights cancelled and passengers warned to check ahead before travelling to the airport.
• Waves of up to 27ft high were recorded at sea as a rare warning for hurricane-force 12 winds was issued for shipping areas south of Ireland.

The Irish Times has confirmed the death of a woman in a car in county Waterford.

A tree fell on the car in Aglish, Co Waterford this morning in which she was the only occupant, according to a spokeswoman for Waterford County Council.

In its latest update the electricity supplier ESB said 120,000 customers are without power.

It said:

• 120,000 customers, predominantly in southern counties are left without power
  
• Majority of customers currently without electricity will be without supply overnight
  
• Crews across the country are in the process of responding to electricity outages, once it is safe to do so
  
• Customers who use electrically powered medical devices should contact their healthcare professional
  

16 Oct 201707.56 EDT

Damian Carrington

An increase in hurricane-force winds wreaking havoc across the Britain and Ireland is entirely consistent with global warming, according to scientists.

A warmer world means more energy in the climate system, especially in the oceans, which is where big storms derive their energy from.

“There is evidence that hurricane-force storms hitting the UK, like Ophelia, will be enhanced in the future due to human-induced climate change,” said Dr Dann Mitchell, at the University of Bristol. “While tropical hurricanes lose strength when they travel north, they can re-intensify due to the nature of the atmospheric circulation at UK latitudes. It is the rise in temperatures over most of the Atlantic that is a primary driver of this, a clear signature of human-induced climate change.”

In May, a report found that even the minimum global warming expected - an increase of 1.5C - is projected to increase the cost of windstorm destruction by more than a third in parts of the UK. If climate change heats the world even further, broken roofs and damaged buildings are likely to increase by over 50% across a swathe of the nation, the report found. Northern Ireland, facing Hurricane Ophelia on Monday, is the worst affected region of the UK.

However, the high winds battering the west coasts are not highly unusual, according to Julian Heming, tropical prediction scientist at the UK Met Office, said: “Wind gusts of up to 80mph are expected over the UK from ex-hurricane Ophelia. This kind of wind strength is not unusual for an autumn/winter storm in the UK. For example, four of the five named storms affecting the UK in 2016 recorded wind gusts in excess of 80 mph.”

The Met Office said that while unusual for hurricanes to impact the UK, it’s not unprecedented with Gordon impacting the UK in 2006 and Grace in 2009.

The broadcaster RTE is reporting that a woman has been killed by fallen tree in Waterford

Waterford council confirmed one fatality in Aglish in the south-west of the county.

Government buildings in Northern Ireland are to close at 1pm, PA reports.

The head of the Northern Ireland civil service, David Sterling, held an emergency meeting with the permanent secretaries from all government departments on Monday morning.

It was decided that all government buildings providing non-essential services close at 1pm and all non-essential civil service staff will leave work at that time.

Guidance is to be issued later about school opening arrangements for Tuesday.

Here’s our news story rounding up the latest on the storm.

These before and after stills show trees uprooted by the storm.