Electricity restored to all Irish homes after power cuts

All Irish homes affected by power cuts in the last few days had their electricity supply restored on Wednesday afternoon. State broadcaster RTE quoted ESB, the country's premier electricity utility, as saying that residents of Achill Island in west Ireland's County Mayo were among the last to be reconnected to the supply. All homes were now fully supplied on Wednesday afternoon, it said. Repair crews restored electricity to around 30,000 customers across the country on Tuesday, following high winds and lightning strikes. But Met Eireann, the Irish national meteorological service, issued a status orange warning for Thursday evening with strong winds expected. The Irish weather is becoming "very windy or stormy again during the evening of St Stephen's Day, continuing overnight and for much of Friday," it read in the warning. In neighboring Britain, up to 50,000 homes are without power and more than 100 flood warnings remain in place following high winds and heavy rains. Most of those without electricity are in the south of England and are unlikely to have it restored before St Stephen's Day.