Status Orange weather warnings issued as Storm Betty set to hit Ireland

Update: 1.45pm, Friday 18 August 

Seven counties have been hit with Status Orange warnings.

All 32 counties in Ireland have been hit with weather warnings as heavy rain and thundery downpours are set to extend nationwide during Friday evening (18 August). A result of the newly named Storm Betty, two Status Orange alerts have been issued by Met Éireann. One is a rain warning and applies to Carlow, Cork, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow and is scheduled to be in effect until 11pm on Friday. It reads: "Heavy rain with thundery downpours on Friday and Friday night and combined with very strong winds on coasts at times. "Potential Impacts: Localised flooding, difficult travelling conditions, wave overtopping on coasts." The other Status Orange warning is for wind and and applies to the same counties. It is set to be valid from 9pm on Friday until 3am on Saturday. "Late this evening and tonight, Storm Betty will bring south to southwest gales with severe gusts of up to 130 km/hr. Spells of heavy rain and possible coastal flooding," it states. "Potential impacts: Structural damage, falling trees, travel disruption, power outages, localised flooding, wave overtopping."

#StormBetty rainfall and wind warnings updated

Potential Impacts: • Spot and localised flooding. • Difficult travelling conditions. • Wave overtopping on coasts. • Structural damage • Falling trees • Travel disruption. • Power outages.https://t.co/Xg3aMJlyuS pic.twitter.com/dJEtAiYAQi — Met Éireann (@MetEireann) August 18, 2023

A number of Status Yellow weather warnings have also been issued by the Irish meteorological service. The first of these to take effect was a rain alert for Clare, Galway, Kerry and Limerick. It is scheduled to be valid until 3am on Saturday. Another Status Yellow rain warning has also been issued for Cavan, Donegal, Dublin, Kildare, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo and Westmeath and is set to be valid between 3pm on Friday and 6am the next day. On top of this, Met Éireann have published a Status Yellow wind warning for Leinster and Munster. This is scheduled to be in effect between 9pm on Friday and 6am on Saturday. "Becoming very windy with southeast winds, veering southwest gusting up to 110km/h, higher on exposed coasts and hills," it reads. "Potential impacts: Damage to temporary structures, travel disruption, power outages, wave overtopping." Meanwhile, the UK Met Office has issued a Status Yellow wind warning for Antrim and Down (valid from 6pm Friday until 12pm Saturday) and a Status Yellow rain warning for Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone (valid from 9pm Friday until 6am Saturday). Main image via Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

Read more:

• Ryan Tubridy 'shocked and disappointed' as RTÉ discussions fall apart, talks begun about his replacement
• Gardaí investigating after video appears to show group of youths attacking man in Dublin city
• 12 of the funniest Twitter reactions to the Bank of Ireland ATM fiasco
• Chaos as Bank of Ireland glitch sees customers queuing up for "free money"