Weather changes ‘weakening’ trees

THE number of fallen trees during stormy weather events is set to rise after recent extreme conditions caused long-term damage.

Storm Ali brought trees down around the country yesterday as winds of more than 120kmh rolled in from the west.

Experts have attributed the large volumes of fallen trees to prolonged extreme weather conditions over the past number of years

“We’re getting extreme cold snaps and snow followed by prolonged drought. Those are weather extremes that we didn’t have before,” said Conor Morgan, tree surgeon with mytree.ie.

“There’ll be branches down everywhere. All the roads of Ireland have trees overhanging them.”

Along with lingering damage from Storm Ophelia and Storm Emma, short but powerful stormy weather conditions such as those experienced this week pose a greater risk of damage.

“There seems to have been a couple of powerful gusts which can cause a lot more damage than long, sustained high winds,” said Mr Morgan.

“Powerful bursts and microbursts can do a lot more damage than high winds over a period of time.

“Native Irish trees are small and hardy and they just don’t blow over, so trees that are down have to have a weakness in them already.”

He warned that with more traffic on all roads, even country lanes, the threat of falling trees injuring or killing a person will be higher.