Man dies after a tree falls on his car during Storm Eowyn in Donegal

A man has died after a tree fell on his car in Raphoe, County Donegal, early on Friday.

Gardaí (Irish Police) said the man’s body was still at the scene.

It happened on the N14 north of Lifford, near Ballinalecky Cross. Gardaí are working with local authorities and third party contractors to facilitate the removal of his remains.

The road is closed.

Gardaí forensic collision investigators and the Criminal Investigation Department have commenced investigations at the scene and inquiries are ongoing.

Meanwhile, in the Republic of Ireland, more than 625,000 properties are still without power and more than 138,000 without water as Storm Eowyn causes chaos over the whole island.

Gardaí have warned people not to travel unless absolutely necessary as there may be fallen trees and downed or damaged power lines across the country.

There are 87,000 households in Donegal alone remained without electricity The time had come on Friday, and only after the red warning had expired could the engineers begin assessing the extent of the damage.

ESB Networks described the storm as “record-breaking” and said the country had never seen so many power outages during an extreme weather event.

It said there was significant damage to power infrastructure but that its teams would not begin restoring power until it was safe to do so.

“Given the projected extent of damage across the country, we expect recovery to take a significant number of days,” ESB said.

Red storm status warnings have ended across the country, but orange warnings remain in effect.

A wind speed of 183 km/h (114 miles per hour) caused by Storm Eowyn was recorded in the Republic of Ireland, the highest on record, Irish meteorologist Met Éireann said.

Met Éireann said a gust of 183 km/h (113 mph) was recorded at Mace Head, County Galway, at around 5am local time on Friday, just above the previous record high of 182 km/h (113 mph) set in January It was erected in Foynes, County Limerick in 1945.

It was also reported that the average wind speed record of 131 km/h (81 mph), set at Foynes in 1945, was broken during the storm, with up to 135 km/h (84 mph) at Mace Head at 04:00 local time.

Water utility Uisce Éireann is beginning recovery efforts as around 138,000 people are without water and a further 750,000 are at risk from Storm Éowyn.

They said the number was likely to rise throughout the day as widespread power outages continued at wastewater treatment plants and pumping stations, impacting supplies.

Martin Homer and his family are one of many families in the Republic of Ireland living in a derelict house during Storm Eowyn.

Thousands of homes in counties including Donegal, Mayo, Clare and Limerick are falling into disrepair because they were built from faulty concrete blocks

Mr Homer said he was concerned about the structural integrity of their home in County Donegal, which is due to be demolished.

He said he was very concerned after seeing parts of their exterior walls collapse due to the powerful wings.

“It’s a terrible situation to live in, we wouldn’t wish it on anyone, it’s something you have to live in to really experience,” he told BBC News NI.

“We know that not just us, but so many out there are living this nightmare.”

“We are all scared, every crunch or crack we hear scares us all.”

He appealed to everyone who is currently living in a dilapidated house, such as their families, to ensure that both they and their loved ones are safe.