Lightning reported to explode a transformer in south Co Galway

What happened

A thunderstorm brought very large numbers of lightning strikes across Ireland from Sunday evening into Monday morning, and Met Éireann issued weather alerts. Many areas, including Co Galway, were left without power, though the source does not link those outages to one asset. A photographer told Galway Beo that a transformer in the south of the county was struck by lightning, exploded, and that a fire could then be seen from some distance. Photo captions also describe strikes near Gort and a strike on a nearby power station, but the operator, the exact site and any damage or outage from this event are not reported.

Contributing factors

The only reported factor is a lightning strike on a transformer during a severe thunderstorm. Protection performance, asset condition and the cause of the wider outages are not reported.

Lessons learned

1. Treat lightning on exposed grid equipment as a credible ignition and explosion risk during severe storms.
2. Do not infer a site outage or a wider blackout from a distant photograph alone.
3. Keep storm contingency plans ready when alerts cover large areas, even if individual asset damage is not yet confirmed.

Source

galwaybeo.ie