Ireland is set to experience its first significant storm of the winter tomorrow and Friday.Parts of the country will experience heavy rainfall and sustained wind speeds of up to 60mph. Southwest to West Gusts are expected to peak at 100mph while near hurricane force gusts will affect the seas off the North and West of Ireland
TMT forecaster Peter O’Donnell warned that the storm could potentially cause some minor or even moderately severe damage, as well as reintroduce the risk of coastal flooding.
He continued: “Some minor or even moderately severe damage is likely from winds of this strength, in a few cases large trees can be felled, and many branches might come down, also roof tiles, garden furniture and small sheds can be damaged or blown around, and hurricane force gusts (force 12 possible) over the near Atlantic would warrant extreme caution for marine interests.”
“Very large waves and swells are likely to develop and Galway Bay, Shannon estuary as well as a few other west coast bays and shorelines might experience some shore flooding (realizing that many stretches of this coast have high cliffs), consult local warnings and stay away from areas that can be reached by 30-40 ft waves along the coast during and after the peak winds”, Mr. O’Donnell added.
Commenting on the timescale for tomorrow’s weather system, Mr. O’Donnell said that very strong westerly winds will develop in the wake of a fast-moving front that is expected to race through Ireland late Wednesday night and early hours of Thursday.He explained: “With that front, you can expect moderately strong south-southwest winds of 30-50 mph, but around 10:00h Thursday, stronger winds will develop, peaking in most areas mid-afternoon (1-4 p.m.), from a SW direction veering to W through the event, and bringing sustained winds of about 50-60 mph in exposed parts of Connacht, north/west Munster, Ulster (with gusts to 80 mph inland and 100 mph coastal and upland) with speeds just a little less severe (40-60 with peak gusts to 75) across the south and east.”
“We're expecting peak gusts at the M4 buoy in Donegal Bay at about 65-70 knots, and would say Belmullet could hit gusts of 80 knots, Malin Head 83 knots -- these speeds should be increased by 15% for mph and nearly doubled for km/hr. The Irish Sea will also become very choppy with gusts to 60 knots (Isle of Man will be right in the strong wind max zone around 7 p.m.) and you'd be wise to check ferry and airline schedule information as delays or cancellations may develop. Although this storm will not be quite as severe along the south coast, you can expect force 9-10 winds off the south coast too.
“These winds should begin to subside rather steadily by evening as they veer further to the northwest. This is all in association with a low currently rapidly deepening south of Greenland near 52N 40W expected to reach 946 mbs when north of Malin Head around 1500h Thursday (near 57N 8W). This storm will also bring similar winds to southern Scotland, Isle of Man, northwest England across to parts of northeast England late Thursday. Wales and central England will get similar wind speeds to Dublin (40-60 mph with possible higher gusts)”, stated Mr. O’Donnell.
View the predicted rainfall for the next 48 hrs here (click on 'nedbor').