'Selfish' Irish thrill seekers leap off diving platform during hurricane

A pair of thrill seekers have been filmed recklessly leaping into raging seas while Hurricane Ophelia battered the Irish coast.

As officials urged warned locals to stay inside, the two men were seen climbing a diving platform at Salthill Pier in Galway and hurling themselves into the churning ocean below.

Their actions were immediately met with fury online from locals who accused them of endangering their own lives and potentially “selfishly” wasting rescue officials' time, the Irish Independent reported.

In a separate video, a person was filmed swimming along the promenade while a woman was bathing in the shallows near the shoreline.

Hurricane Ophelia has so far claimed three lives in Ireland.

A woman in her 50s was killed when a tree fell on her car and a man in his 30s died in an accident involving a chainsaw while trying to clear a fallen tree, local media reported.

The hurricane is the worst storm to hit the country in half a century, and has left 230,000 homes and businesses without power.

The tail end of the hurricane also turned the sky in England an eerie red colour, dubbed the “hurricane sun”