‘Danger to life’ wind warning for Cork
Met Éireann has issued a status red wind alert for Cork from tomorrow, Friday, with the arrival of Storm Éowyn bringing extremely dangerous conditions and gusts exceeding 130kmph.
The latest storm to hit Cork is expected to cause danger to life, extremely dangerous travelling conditions, coastal flooding, falling trees, wave overtopping, widespread power outages, and structural damage. Cancellation of events and disruption and cancellations to transport are also expected.
As the storm approaches Ireland, a status yellow rain warning will first come into effect from 9pm this evening for counties Cork, Kerry and Waterford. This will then move to a status red wind warning for counties Cork, Clare, Kerry and Limerick which, at the time of print, is set to last from 3-10am on Friday. During this time, Met Éireann has warned of gale force southerly winds becoming westerly, bringing severe, damaging and destructive gusts in excess of 130kmph. Heavy rain can be expected throughout.
The rest of the country and surrounding seas will enter a Status Orange alert for wind from 2am-5pm on Friday. Cork will enter this Status Orange alert from 10am on Friday.
Named by the UK Met Office, Storm Éowyn (pronounced Ay-oh-win) will be the fifth named storm of the 2024/2025 season.
Met Éireann’s Deputy Head of Forecasting Liz Coleman said: “Storm Éowyn will bring wet and very windy conditions on Friday. The very strong southwest winds with damaging gusts will start to be felt late on Thursday and will cause dangerous travelling conditions on Friday, with the likelihood of trees down and potentially power outages. Wave overtopping is also expected at high tide.”
There could be localised flooding further into Saturday associated to the heavy rain and to the snow melt,” added Ms Coleman.
Met Éireann also warned of the possibility of another weather system following right behind Storm Éowyn which could bring further wind and rain to parts of Ireland.
Ms Coleman said: “There will be a short respite from the weather on Saturday as Éowyn moves away, but we are also watching a different low-pressure system, forecast to bring impactful winds and further rain on Sunday. However, in this case the situation is still too uncertain; we will provide updates as the week progresses.”
Meanwhile, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) have advised the public on the dangers of driving in strong winds. The authority said motorbikes, trucks, and busses are most at risk. Drivers are also warned to expect gusts in open areas and to take particular care on motorways.