Two dead as Storm Ophelia batters Ireland Read

Two people died as Tropical Storm Ophelia battered Ireland's southern coast today, knocking down trees and power lines and whipping up 10-metre waves.

Over 230,000 homes and businesses were without electricity with more outages expected and almost 150 flights from Ireland's two main airports at Dublin and Shannon were cancelled.

A woman in her 50s was killed by a tree falling on her car in the southeastern county of Waterford, police said. A man in his 30s died while trying to clear a fallen tree in an incident involving a chainsaw.

The storm, downgraded from a hurricane overnight, was the worst to hit Ireland in half a century. It made landfall after 10.40am (0940 GMT), the Irish National Meteorological Service said, with winds as strong as 176kph hitting the most southerly tip of the country. Flooding was likely.

"These gusts are life-threatening. Do not be out there," the chairperson of Ireland's National Emergency Coordination Group, Sean Hogan, said on national broadcaster RTE.

Schools, hospitals and public transport services were closed and the armed forces were sent to bolster flood defences. Photos on social media showed the roof of a stand at Cork City soccer club's Turner's Cross stadium had collapsed.

Hurricane force winds were likely in every part of Ireland, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said, advising people to stay indoors. The transport minister said it was not safe to drive.

"While the storm in some parts of the country is not yet that bad, it is coming your way," Varadkar told a news conference.

Britain's meteorological service put an Amber Weather Warning into effect for Northern Ireland from 1400-2100 GMT, saying the storm posed a danger to life and was likely to cause transport cancellations, power cuts and flying debris.

"Impactful weather" is expected in other western and northern parts of the United Kingdom, it said.

British media are comparing Ophelia to the "Great Storm" of 1987, which subjected parts of the United Kingdom to hurricane strength winds 30 years ago to the day.

The storm is expected to move towards western Scotland overnight.

The Irish government said the storm was likely to be the worst since Hurricane Debbie, which killed 11 in Ireland in 1961.

It is likely to pass close to a western Ireland golf course owned by US President Donald Trump, who has been planning a wall to protect its greens from coastal erosion.

Similar storms in the past have changed the shape of stretches of the Irish coastline, climatologists said.

- Reuters