Red, Orange and Yellow – here’s how it looks on Friday.
Storm Eunice has finally arrived in Ireland following days of anticipation.
Earlier this week, Met Éireann warned of the potential for a “multi-hazard and disruptive event” with extreme weather conditions expected.
Multiple official warnings followed, ranging from Status Red to Status Orange to Status Yellow.
Schools in multiple counties have closed in response to Storm Eunice, while thousands of households awoke on Friday morning to power outages.
As of Friday morning, the strongest winds – gusts of 130 kilometres per hour – have been located in the southwest of the country, though they are expected to track eastward as the morning progresses.
Heavy rain, sleet and snow are all possible throughout the day.
The storm is tracking East now and winds will suddenly increase as it moves. Please do not be fooled if it is still calm with you this morning. #StormEunice is still coming. Please retweet. pic.twitter.com/smA5MuP7IW
— Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) February 18, 2022
Met Éireann has issued multiple warnings for Friday, with the situation very much evolving and subject to change over the course of the day.
At the time of writing after 8am on Friday, the following warnings are in place:
Status Red
Waterford is subject to a Status Red warning, with severe and damaging winds expected in the county.
Southwest winds veering northwest will reach mean speeds in excess of 80 kilometres per hour and gusts in excess of 130 kilometres per hour.
Coastal flooding is also a risk, especially at high tide.
This warning is valid until 11am on Friday.
Status Orange
A Status Orange warning is in place until 11am in the following counties:
Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Wexford, Wicklow, Galway, Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Limerick and Clare.
Once again, severe and damaging winds are expected.
Southwest or cyclonic winds with transfer to the northwest over time, reaching mean speeds of 65 to 80 kilometres per hour.
Gusts of 130 kilometres per hour are also likely.
Coastal flooding remains a possibility, also.
Status Yellow
Several Status Yellow wind warnings are in place across the island of Ireland.
A snow and ice warning for the entire country notes that falls of sleet and snow are anticipated on both Friday and Saturday, with accumulations and icy stretches leading to hazardous driving conditions.
This warning is in place until 10am on Saturday morning.
A separate Status Yellow warning for all of Ireland concerns wind and rain, with northwest winds hitting mean speeds of 50 to 65km/h with gusts of up to 110km/h, coupled with heavy rain.
Disruption is likely, alongside the potential for coastal and spot flooding.
This warning is valid until 6pm on Friday.
Elsewhere, a Status Yellow wind warning is in place for Antrim, Down and Derry until 6pm on Friday, per the UK Met Office.
Also, a Status Yellow warning for snow is in place for Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry, also until 6pm on Friday.
Hourly weather reports from our 25 synoptic stations can be viewed here ⬇️https://t.co/MvCx72KIaT pic.twitter.com/0OJjrQrwJJ
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) February 18, 2022
In terms of the weekend, Met Éireann has issued another Status Yellow warning for rain for the counties of Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo.
It will be valid from 4pm on Saturday to 4pm on Sunday and says persistent rain followed by heavy showers will lead to localised flooding in places.
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