A children's sailing lesson was cut short as Storm Brian moved on to the east coast this afternoon.
The group of around 15 children were rescued from the sea as weather conditions deteriorated. Independent.ie understands that the sailing class was organised on the water this morning, but they ran into difficulties due to the strong storm winds at around noon. Storm Brian swept over the country this morning, with Met Éireann warning people to expect heavy downpours and strong winds for the rest of the day."There were a number of children involved, up to 15 or 16 I believe," a spokesperson for the Irish Coast Guard said."The sailing club assisted them back in. We just assisted the helpers of the last few from the sailing club."It is understood four children had to be rescued from the boats, which were subsequently abandoned. The boats were later seen crashing against the east pier in Dun Laoghaire. All children were reported to be safe and well. The Irish Coast Guard issued a warning last night to the public to stay away from exposed beaches, cliffs and piers, harbour walls and promenades along the coast during storm conditions. A status orange wind warning is currently live for the coasts of Mayo, Galway, Clare, Kerry, Cork, Waterford and Wexford and will remain in place until 10pm tonight. Southeast winds of up to 65km/h and gusts of up to 110km/h are expected throughout the day, while up to 55mm of rain is expected over a 24 hour period.