Storm Éowyn brought hurricane force winds and new wind speed records for Ireland, figures released for January 2025 from Met Éíreann confirm.
Storm gusts reached an unprecedented 184 km/hr during the storm – with the highest 10-minute mean speed recorded of 142 km/hr.
The meteorological service said that on Friday 24th January during storm Éowyn the provisional highest (sustained and gust) wind speeds in the digital climate record for Ireland were reported at Mace Head, Co Galway.
The highest gust was 99.5 knots (184 km/h) while the highest 10-minute mean wind speed was 76.5 knots (142 km/h).
Four stations broke their highest gust records. These were Mace Head, Co Galway, Finner, Co Donegal with 150 km/h (81 knots), Athenry, Co Galway with 139 km/h (75 knots) and Gurteen, Co Tipperary with 124 km/h (67 knots) (record lengths between 13 and 21 years).
Four stations broke their highest 10-minute mean wind speed record. These were Mach Head, Co Galway, Finner, Co Donegal with 115 km/h (62 knots), Dunsany, Co Meath with 76 km/h (41 knots) (length 19 years) and Athenry with 83 km/h (45 knots).
Two stations reached hurricane force 12 on the Beaufort wind scale.
Four stations reached violent storm force 11 and eight station reached storm force 10 on the Beaufort wind scale.
The storm caused havoc across the country with fallen trees and damage to power lines and power outages. Some 715,000 people with initially left without power, while as at February 5, 25,000 homes had still not been reconnected.
Yesterday, the Dáil heard that that a man lost his life when his vital medical devices, including sleep apnea equipment, failed due to power outages during Storm Éowyn.
20-year-old Kacper Dudek was killed in Donegal when a tree fell on his car during the storm.