Both Galway City Council and County Council have warned residents not to go outdoors “unless absolutely necessary” as ferocious winds and flooding hit coastal areas of the county.

A status orange wind warning is in place for both Galway and Mayo until 1am, Met Eireann has said.

An initial yellow warning was upgraded to status orange at 8pm and came into effect at 9pm.

A spokesman for Galway City Council told Independent.ie that the late change of status to the warning caught people by surprise.

The council advised locals to “please avoid the [Salthill] Promenade from Grattan Road to Blackrock with waves overtopping”.

A crisis management team is in place between the council, the fire service and gardai.

“Advice is not to venture out. Wind and rain making Salthill area and along coasts treacherous”.

Some videos circulating on social media appear to show flood water rising above cars in Salthill.

Galway City Council added that trees and debris are on many roads.

Power cuts have hit a number of areas in the west, with Castlebar, Ballina, Carrick-on-Shannon and Tuam the worst affected.

ESB crews are working through the night to restore power.

Strong winds felled trees across Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Meath, Carlow, Offaly, Laois, Wicklow and Tipperary.

Galway City Council has also warned drivers to be vigilant in the morning due to fallen trees across the county.

Meanwhile, the south west received a nasty surprise as Storm Elsa strengthened considerably over what had initially been expected.

Named by the Portuguese weather service, Elsa resulted in a Status Orange wind warning being issued for the greater Cork area as a deepening Atlantic depression resulted in the aftermath of the storm hitting the south coast with powerful wind gusts.

Gardaí urged motorists to drive with care as a number of trees were reported to have fallen across Cork county.

A number of roads were closed as a result.

Gardaí also urged motorists to be wary of debris on roads from the high winds.

The Status Orange warning remained in place until 9pm when winds eased and the worst of the storm passed.

However, the storm once again hit Christmas trade – with numerous Christmas festivals having to suspend operations for Storm Atiyah last week.

That storm resulted in a Status Red warning – the highest alert possible – for Kerry.

The good news is that while Ireland’s weather will remain unsettled for the next week, there are no extreme weather events forecast before Christmas by Met Éireann.

It is expected that the best of the weather will be on Christmas Eve with bright spells only interrupted by cloud and scattered showers.

However, heavier rainfall is likely on both Christmas Day and St. Stephen’s Day.

There is little likelihood of a ‘White Christmas’ with bookies ranking the chance of snowfall in Dublin on December 25 at just 4/1.

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