Man is killed by falling tree in Ireland after Storm Eowyn pummels the UK with savage 100mph winds

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A man has died after a falling tree crushed his car during Storm Eowyn, police in Ireland have said. 

Police and local emergency services attended the scene after the tree fell on the car at around 5.30am in Feddyglass, Raphoe, County Donegal, in the north-west of the Republic.

The driver of the car died and his body remains at the scene. Gardai - the Irish national police - say they are working with the local authority and third party contractors to arrange the removal of the man's body.

The N14 road remains closed while forensic collision investigators and divisional scenes of crime continue an investigation at the scene. 

It comes as more than one million homes, farms and businesses in the Republic and Northern Ireland are without power as record-breaking wind speeds swept across the island. 

ESB Networks in Ireland and NIE Networks say they expect significant further outages as Storm Eowyn continues to batter parts of the island, with 725,000 customers affected in the Republic and 283,000 in Northern Ireland.

Some homes and businesses are expected to be without power for a week as an unprecedented number of power cuts are experienced. 

In Scotland 117,000 homes have been left without electricity, with one provider offering hot meals to customers without power. 

Workers start to remove a fallen tree which crashed through the wall of Phoenix Park and on to Blackhorse Avenue in Dublin, only a few kilometres west of the city centre

Detritus flies from the roof of the Helensburgh swimming pool on January 24, 2025 in Helensburgh, Scotland as it is buffeted by Storm Eowyn 

Vehicles tentatively make their way along the seafront as huge waves crash over the road, as Storm Eowyn hits Oban, Scotland

No injuries have been reported in Northern Ireland in the aftermath of Storm Eowyn but it will take days to fully assess its impact, police have said. 

Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck, who is in charge of the storm response operation, said on Friday evening 'we are still not out of the potential risks in respect of this storm'.

'I ask the public to consider this and question yourself around is your journey absolutely necessary until such times as the storm has totally passed.'

He added: 'Police have received in the region of 2,000 calls for service so far today, which is about 50% above what we would normally expect to receive on a normal Friday,' he said.  

'Many roads right across Northern Ireland do continue to be impassable, with fallen trees debris and power lines down.'

He urged caution for those who do need to travel amid an amber and yellow snow and ice warning in place on Friday night.

'This was a really serious storm and and I don't think we yet fully appreciate the impacts of this storm,' he added.

'We're only now starting to see the number of calls start to rise in respect of impacts, concerns for safety, and indeed, more and more reports in respect of roads blocked and issues as a consequence of that. So I think it's going to be a number of days before we can fully understand the full impacts of this storm, but certainly this was a severe storm.'

A photograph taken on January 24, 2025 shows a roof torn off from the Chimney Corner Hotel, outside Belfast, in Co Antrim, in Northern Ireland

A small dog struggling in against high winds in Storm Eowyn this morning as it hit Blackpool in Lancashire

Rubble from a partially collapsed wall of a building is seen as Storm Eowyn hits, in Denny, Scotland

Cars damaged by a falling roof outside a dealership in Helensburgh Scotland, as storm Eowyn brings winds of 100 mph to the UK and Ireland

A close up shot shows the extent of the damage done to the cars by the giant slab of fallen roof

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Scotland has also been hit hard, with rail services, flights and ferries cancelled across the country as rare red weather warnings are in place. 

A previous red warning covering Northern Ireland has been downgraded to amber.

A gust of 100mph was recorded at Drumalbin in South Lanarkshire in Scotland, the strongest gust so far today in the UK, the Met Office said.

In Ireland, a record-breaking wind speed of 183kmh (114mph) was measured in Mace Head, Co Galway on Friday morning, Met Eireann said.

Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill urged people to stay at home, adding 'we are in the eye of the storm now', in an interview with BBC Radio Ulster.

The storm forced hundreds of schools and nurseries across Scotland to close on Friday as First Minister John Swinney warned people not to travel.

A driver was seriously injured following a single-vehicle collision in Mauchline, East Ayrshire while another driver was injured when a tree fell on their van in the Balmore Road area of Glasgow on Friday morning, Police Scotland said.

More than one million homes, farms and businesses in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland are without power as record-breaking wind speeds swept across the area.

A fallen tree and pole on Grove Park Drive in Dublin. Residents across Ireland have been urged to stay at home as the entire island braces for the arrival of Storm Eowy

Waves crash onto the shore in Bantry Bay, on the south-west coast of Ireland on the morning of January 24, 2025

An ice skating rink collapses due to the power of Storm Eowyn in Blanchardstown, a suburb of Dublin

A sign outside the ice skating rink signals its closure to the high winds that have batted Northern and Southern Ireland and Scotland 

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ESB Networks in Ireland and NIE Networks said they expect significant further outages as Storm Eowyn continues to batter parts of the island, with 725,000 customers affected in the Republic and 283,000 in Northern Ireland.

The Scottish Government's Resilience Room met on Friday afternoon and officials said around 100,000 households across the country were without power.

The Isle of Man's Department of Infrastructure has declared a major incident because of the number of fallen trees and their impact on arterial roads and emergency services, the government said on X.

Several trees, some more than 60 years old, have been uprooted or split in half because of high winds.

Cathriona Heffernan, 25, from Galway City in Ireland, described the winds as 'scary' and told the PA news agency: 'Those trees have been there 60 years and outdate the houses even. It's sad seeing them down all the same but just glad no damage was caused by them.'

Elsewhere, firefighters were called to Harold's Cross Road in Dublin after scaffolding collapsed and blocked the road. It appears to have fallen off the side of a three-storey building.

Meanwhile, an ice skating rink in the Dublin suburb of Blanchardstown appears to have lost its roof - leaving a pile of debris on the ground.

On Friday, about 20% of all flights scheduled to operate to or from airports in the UK or Ireland have been cancelled, according to Aviation analytics company Cirium.

Firemen secure a house in Belfast that was damaged by the high winds of storm Eowyn 

The damaged roof at the Chimney Corner Hotel seen in Mallusk, on January 24, 2025 near Belfast, Northern Ireland

A sign giving a red weather warning is displayed above the road on January 24, 2025 in Scotland, United Kingdom

A total of 1,124 flights have been cancelled, and Dublin, Edinburgh, Heathrow and Glasgow airports are the worst affected, according to the company. 

A Ryanair flight to Edinburgh airport was forced to return to Stansted in Essex, where it had taken off from, after being unable to land in the Scottish capital.

Train operator ScotRail suspended all services across Scotland, saying it 'would not be safe to operate passenger services'. Calmac and Western ferry services are also cancelled.

Other services affected by the storm include Avanti West Coast, LNER, West Midlands Railway, Lumo, Transport for Wales and South Western Railway.

Motorists in areas covered by red and amber weather warnings have been told to avoid travel 'unless absolutely essential'.

National Highways said the A66 between the A1M in North Yorkshire and M6 in Cumbria, and the A628 Woodhead Pass in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, were both closed overnight because of strong winds.

The M48 Severn bridge in Gloucester has been shut while the M62 Ouse Bridge and A15 Humber Bridge, both in East Yorkshire, and the A19 Tees flyover in Co Durham are closed to high-sided vehicles.

Satellite imagery suggests a dangerous weather phenomenon known as a sting jet developed over Ireland, the Met Office has said.

A bus shelter in Belfast ravaged by the record-breaking winds of Storm Eowyn that hit Northern Ireland today 

A huge uprooted tree on Cyprus Avenue in East Belfast that has blown into the front garden of a property

Waves break against the sea wall in Carnlough on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland early in the morning of January 24

A sting jet is a small area of very intense winds, according to the weather service. 

Gusts of 96mph were recorded at Brizlee Wood in Northumberland and 93mph in Aberdaron in Gwynedd, north Wales, this morning, the forecaster said.

The Met Office's red warning for Scotland covers as far south as Lockerbie, as well as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Lanark and Ayr, and is in place until 5pm on Friday.

Wind speeds of up to 100mph are likely along coasts in both red warning areas, with gusts of up to 90mph expected inland, the forecaster said.

Amber wind warnings are also in place for Northern Ireland, the southern half of Scotland, northern England and north Wales between 6am and 9pm on Friday, and the northern half of Scotland from 1pm on Friday to 6am on Saturday.

Winds reaching 60mph to 70mph will be widespread in these areas, with up to 90mph possible on coastal areas.

A further yellow wind warning covers the rest of UK for all of Friday.

Yellow warnings for snow are in place in Scotland, from 6am to midnight, and rain in south-west England and Wales until 9am.

In Northern Ireland, a yellow warning for snow and ice has been issued between 7pm on Friday until 10am on Saturday.

RAC Breakdown advised motorists in warning areas to stay safe by parking away from trees, to keep a firm grip on the steering wheel, avoid coastal routes and watch out for debris.

More amber and yellow weather warnings for wind and rain have been issued for across the weekend and on Monday.