Over the weekend, post-tropical cyclone Ophelia hit Ireland, with wind gusts of up to 150 km/hr. Very few tropical cyclones travel this far northeast.

Ophelia started out in the North Atlantic as a tropical cyclone that increased in strength as it travelled northeast, briefly becoming a Category 3 hurricane. According to the New York Times the storm ventured farther east than any other Category 3 hurricane on record.

In Ireland Met Eireann categorised the country as a red zone, three people were killed due to the storm and the south of the country bore the brunt of the worst of the winds. Schools across the country were closed for two days.

In Loughrea most of the shops and banks were closed at about 11am, for the day. For about two hours around mid-day on Monday, the lake was a seething cauldron.