#StormBrigid - Two canoeists in trouble off Spiddal Pier were attended by lifeboats from Galway the Aran Islands yesterday afternoon (Saturday 1 February) as Storm Brigid made for an inauspicious start to spring.

The worst of the weather was experienced in Limerick, with hundreds evacuated from their homes as the River Shannon burst its banks, and images of the city under many feet of water broadcast worldwide.

The Irish Independent puts the cost of damage from this weekend's weather at 'millions'.

In Galway – which suffered from another spate of flooding as high tides and storm-force winds assaulted the West coast – volunteer lifeboat crews from Galway RNLI and Aran Islands RNLI, along with the Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, were tasked to Spiddal Pier but stood down when the two canoeists managed to make it ashore.

RTÉ News reports of further structural damage on islands in Galway Bay, as well as severe flooding in parts of Co Kerry.

And an investigation has been opened after a grim discovery this morning on a beach in Clifden, Co Galway, where a local person found a human skull washed up after the storm.

The East coast wasn't spared the extreme conditions, either, with Clontarf in North Dublin seeing giant sandbags placed along the seafront to hold back floodwaters from homes and shopfronts.

The wooden bridge to the Bull Wall was also closed by Gardaí and Dublin City Council.