CORK was battered by gusts of more than 110km/h per hour as Storm Eleanor brought flooding, lightning, fallen trees and power outages across the county and city.

There was minor flooding yesterday evening in Cork city centre on Union Quay, George’s Quay, part of the South Terrace and on Morrison’s Quay but no businesses or homes were damaged.

In west Cork, fire crews were deployed in Bantry to pump out excess water as the storm force winds caused the sea to swamp the town square at around 5pm.

Crews had to remove a number of vehicles that were at risk of being swept away.

A fallen tree brought power lines down on the N71 Skibbereen to Bantry road, causing traffic headaches for commuters today.

Flooding was also reported last night on the Bailick Road in Midleton which became impassable for a time.

The status orange weather warning remained in place until 2pm today but the worst of the conditions hit overnight.

At least 55,000 properties across the country had no power this morning, including 850 homes in Cork.

More than 3,000 homes in South West Cork were without power last night but ESB crews have worked to restore power in affected areas.

ESB Networks said that counties worst affected included Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan.

A spokesperson for the ESV said its crews were working to get people reconnected “where it is safe to do so” and that they were hopeful of reconnecting everyone today.

“Fallen trees on overhead lines are responsible for most of the damage to the network,” the spokesperson said.

Motorists were urged to drive with extreme caution as the wind warning remains in effect until 2pm today.

An Aer Lingus flight that was due to depart from Cork Airport for Heathrow today was cancelled yesterday due to anticipated high winds in London. Passengers were notified by the airline.

Meanwhile, Irish Rail and Bus Eireann have reported no delays or cancellations of their services in Cork.