“Storm force 10.”
Met Éireann issued a fresh status orange weather warning at 6am on Wednesday morning (28 November), alerting mariners to the threat of strong gale force winds off the Irish coast.
The warning also notes the possibility of “Storm Force 10” winds. According to Met Éireann: “South to southeast winds veering southwesterly will reach gale force 8 or strong gale 9 today on all Irish coastal waters and on the Irish Sea, possibly reaching storm force 10 for a time between Carnsore Point and Slyne Head and in the Irish Sea.”
This latest warning follows several other status yellow and status orange wind and rainfall warnings across Ireland as the country braces itself for the impact of Storm Diana.
A yellow wind warning has been issued for all 26 counties under Met Éireann’s jurisdiction. Winds are expected to reach mean wind speeds of 55 to 65km/h and gusts of 90 to 110km/h. Additionally two orange level wind warnings have been issued for the southern and western coastal counties of Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Wexford, Clare and Galway to warn of the potential for orange level winds – mean speeds of 65 to 80km/h and gusts of 110 to 130km/h.
These orange level winds will mostly occur in coastal regions of these counties and on high ground, and there is also the added risk of coastal flooding due to very high seas.
According to Met Éireann’s Meteorologist Commentary on the storm: “The strongest winds on Wednesday will be coming from a slightly different direction (south to southwesterly) than the strongest winds on Tuesday (southeasterly), which will produce some differences in how they are experienced in different parts of the country i.e. weaker or stronger depending on exposure.”
The nationwide warning will remain in place until at least 6pm on Wednesday evening.
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