Cork and Galway were bracing themselves for Storm Bert on Friday night, with heavy rain and the prospect of severe flooding prompting Met Éireann to issue a red weather alert for both counties.
Met Éireann said the worst of the rain would hit west Galway and west Cork and said there could be damage to homes and businesses as well as treacherous travelling conditions.
The red warnings were in effect from midnight and run until 10am on Saturday.
The “complex storm” was not confined to just Cork and Galway, however, with counties stretching from Waterford up to Donegal set to hit by heavy rain and winds.
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A status orange rain warning came into force at midnight covering counties Waterford, Kerry, Clare, Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim.
The forecaster said Storm Bert would bring “intense falls of rain over a short period of time” with impacts including surface flooding, possible river flooding, very difficult travelling conditions and poor visibility.
A status yellow alert issued for Leinster, Munster, Connacht, Cavan and Monaghan warned of very strong southeast to south winds coupled with heavy rain as a result of the storm.
Gusts of more than 90km were set to sweep through Galway in the early hours of Saturday, but the bad weather will affect many more locations over the course of today.
Met Éireann said the possible impacts include localised flooding, travel disruption and fallen trees.
On Friday evening, the National Directorate for Fire & Emergency Management urged members of the public in the areas covered by the red warnings “to shelter in place” while they were in effect as local response teams readied themselves for extremely challenging conditions.
Its director Keith Leonard said it was “quite clear that we will have challenging weather conditions at local level in many counties in the west and southwest”.
“Local Authority severe weather teams are activated and are preparing for the storm’s approach,” he said.
“For those in areas affected by red level rain and wind warnings, I would particularly stress that the safest advice for those affected is to shelter in place and do not travel during the duration of the warning. As weather events are changeable ones, members of the public should monitor Met Éireann’s ongoing advice and act accordingly.”
He described Storm Bert is a “very complex storm, a multi-hazard storm event”, and warned that the slow-moving storm would impact much of the country.
He urged people in the path of the storm to ensure their mobile phones were fully charged and reminded people that conditions can change “very quickly”, with counties under an orange alert also at grave risk
He warned people to stay away from “very dangerous” coastal areas and said that anyone driving should exercise extreme caution, particularly with flooded roads with even stretches that look passable posing a potential risk.
Met Éireann meteorologist Liz Walsh said Storm Bert was a “multi-hazard” weather system which could bring wind speeds gusting up to 110km/h, intense rain and “even a bit of snow in places”, but not all necessarily together.
A further complication, she said, was the slow speed at which Storm Bert was moving.
She said heavy rainfall was expected on high ground where snow may still be lying. The rainfall and rising temperatures could give rise to melting snow, which she said could lead to flooding. In Donegal, she said, there was an expectation of further snow and ice, but for most of the country “the good thing is that the cold of recent days is gone”.
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