Storm Darragh is set to bring heavy rain and “very strong, gusty” winds potentially causing localised flooding, fallen trees and difficult travel conditions.
The storm, named by the UK Met Office, is due move across Ireland and the UK from the Atlantic on Friday night into Saturday, Met Éireann said.
The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM), Met Éireann and other stakeholders met on Thursday afternoon in advance of its arrival.
Status orange wind alerts are to come into effect for 10 counties on Friday and into Saturday. These warn of the potential for fallen trees, damage to power lines and “very difficult travelling conditions”.
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The first orange wind warning covers Kerry, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal from 10pm on Friday until 9am on Saturday. The second orange wind warning is in place for Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow and runs from midnight until 9am on Saturday. A 24-hour nationwide wind warning comes into effect at 3pm on Friday.
A separate 24-hour yellow rain warning for Clare, Connacht, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Longford, Louth, Meath and Westmeath comes into effect at 10am on Friday. This notes the potential for localised flooding in those areas.
Keith Leonard, national director of the NDFEM, urged everyone to take extra care this weekend, noting that “most of the country will be impacted by strong winds”.
“In particular, this storm may bring dangerous travelling conditions. Strong winds can make driving conditions hazardous, especially for more vulnerable road users such as cyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists and high-sided vehicles, and road users should pay particular attention to the risk posed by fallen trees and flying debris,” he said.
Noting potential localised flooding in some areas, Mr Leonard warned road users “to never drive through flooded roads, as the depth of the water can be deceiving”. He urged members of the public to stay away from coastal areas.
The Road Safety Authority is advising all road users to take “extreme care” throughout the weekend as very difficult travelling conditions are expected.
In Waterford, the county council urged the public to stay away from coastal areas due to a risk of wave overtopping, while Christmas markets initially due to be held in Castlebar, Co Mayo on Friday and Saturday have been postponed by Mayo County Council for “health and safety reasons”.
Met Éireann is warning that there is still a little uncertainty in the forecast for Friday and Friday night, as it “depends on the track and development of an area of low pressure, which currently looks set to track eastward across the south of Ireland”, met.ie said.
“At the moment the most likely scenario is that it’ll be a cloudy day on Friday, with some heavy rain and localised flooding, mainly across the southern half of the country.”
Rain will be lighter further north. But it will be cool with highest temperatures of 5 to 9 degrees generally, but milder in southern areas, ranging from 9 to 13 degrees. It will become rather windy in southern areas with fresh to strong and gusty cyclonic variable winds developing, the winds will be lighter though further north.
A more northerly track to the area of low pressure would give more widespread heavy rain and localised flooding right across the country and could result in very windy weather, but it looks like this is a less likely scenario.
Met Éireann is warning that forecast updates could be in the offing.
Meanwhile, the UK Met Office has also issued a yellow status wind warning for Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone.
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