Irish ferry stranded off Devon coast and thousands without power during Storm Imogen
News

Irish ferry stranded off Devon coast and thousands without power during Storm Imogen

STORM IMOGEN’s strong winds left more than 100 passengers aboard an Irish Ferries ship bound for Dublin stranded off the southern English coast yesterday.

The latest in a string of named storms to batter Britain and Ireland has seen winds of up to 160km per hour swept across Ireland and southern parts of Britain.

Choppy sea conditions left 110 passengers stranded near the coast of Devon, when their ferry, bound for Dublin after leaving Cherbourg in France, was forced to dock in Britain to shelter from the conditions.

The vessel, which diverted to the North Devon coast yesterday afternoon, remained on the British coast for a number of hours until the orange weather warning in place over the Irish Sea was lifted.

Britain’s Met Office said “phenomenal” sea conditions were witnessed along the southern coast.

Scroll down for pictures and video...

Off the coast of St Ives in Cornwall, one wave was recorded at 63ft high.

Elsewhere, Storm Imogen has brought floods and electricity outages to many parts.

Pictures and videos emerged of the River Shannon's banks at bursting point in Limerick City on social media last night.

Large areas of Counties Cork and Kerry, as well as southern areas in England and Wales were left without power at the peak of its storm.

Yesterday saw up to 19,000 homes in Britain without electricity during the storm's peak.

Storm Imogen is the latest in a series of named storms to arrive in Britain and Ireland since late last year.

See pictures of Storm Imogen in action here

See Storm Imogen in Dingle, Co. Kerry here