130km/h winds forecast as Status Red Wind warning issued for Waterford
The wind warning is in place from 2am until 10am Friday morning, January 24.
Met Éireann has issued a Status Red Wind warning for Waterford as gale to storm force winds are forecast for Friday morning, bringing "severe, damaging and extremely destructive gusts in excess of 130km/h".
The weather warning is now in place for Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and Waterford, as Storm Éowyn is due to land in Munster on Thursday night into Friday morning.
The "extremely destructive gusts", the national forecaster has warned, will bring about a "danger to life" as extremely dangerous travelling conditions, unsafe working conditions and many fallen trees are expected to be caused by the conditions.
Met Éireann has also warned those in red warning areas such as Waterford to be prepared for "significant and widespread power outages" as well as potential impacts to communications networks.
The risks in coastal areas have been emphasised as Met Éireann has warned that structural damage may be caused as wave overtopping and coastal flooding in low-lying and exposed areas is likely.
The wind warning is in place from 2am until 10am Friday morning, January 24. The red warning comes into effect just as a yellow rain warning for Waterford from 9pm Thursday until 3am on Friday will come to an end. The heavy rainfall may lead to localised flooding in the Déise.
The weather conditions are being caused by a deepening low-pressure system, which as named Éowyn by the UK Met Office and is the fifth named storm of the 2024-2025 season.
Storm Éowyn (pronounced AY-OH-WIN) may also cause "transitory falls" of sleet and snow in certain parts of the country though these conditions are likely to be concentrated across west and northwest counties, Met Éireann has warned,
“Storm Éowyn will bring wet and very windy conditions on Friday, especially in the west and northwest," said Met Éireann's Deputy Head of Forecasting, Liz Coleman, "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."
