High winds have heaped further misery on householders struggling to cope with the big freeze as power was cut off in several counties.

Thousands of homes in north Wicklow, Carlow and Cork were left without electricity on Tuesday night as falling timber struck overhead cables.

Teams of Electricity Supply Board (ESB) engineers worked in bad weather conditions to restore supplies to around 1,500 homes which remained without power.

About 1,000 homes in north Wicklow, including in Avoca and Rathnew, which have already been hard-hit by the snow and ice, were reconnected to the national grid on Wednesday morning.

An ESB spokeswoman said crews were continuing to work to restore electricity to other affected areas.

.