Status Red and Orange wind warnings have been issued, with Met Éireann warning of a possible “danger to life” as Storm Éowyn is expected to bring “damaging and destructive” winds.
A Status Red warning for wind has been issued for Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick with the forecaster warning of extremely dangerous travelling conditions and structural damage.
The warning comes into effect at 3am on Friday until 10am that morning.
Met Éireann said likely impacts of the storm include the cancellation of events, unsafe working conditions, fallen trees, significant and widespread power outages and disruption to transport.
Wave overtopping and coastal flooding is also possible in low lying and exposed areas.
There will be “further counties added” to the Status Red warning for wind that has already been issued for the four southwest counties, Met Éireann’s senior forecaster Gerry Murphy has said.
He said the expanded alert will affect areas “right up along the western seaboard” and “coastal counties all the way up to Donegal” as Storm Éowyn arrives.
“With the timings varying as the storm moves up,” he said.
Mr Murphy said the Status Red warning was issued as Storm Éowyn looks likely to be “a very significant or major storm”.
The storm, he said, will have the most impact “from around midnight tomorrow night” until around “6pm on Friday, depending on exactly where you are”.
Mr Murphy described the forecast winds as “extremely strong”, adding the Status Orange warning that coincides with the red warning will be at the “”higher end” of the alert.
Watch: Met Met Éireann’s senior forecaster Gerry Murphy says Storm Éowyn a time for “staying at home”
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The forecaster said “people should basically put Friday aside” and advised people to “stay at home and take whatever care and precautions they need” to stay out of the storm.
“The general advice at this point is for people to stay at home, not take any unnecessary journeys, and basically wait for the storm to clear,” he said.
He added the adverse weather “does all clear away fairly quickly on Friday evening, Friday night”.
Meanwhile Met Éireann Meteorologist Michelle Dillon said Storm Éowyn is going to be “a stand-out storm”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, Ms Dillon said Cork, Kerry and Waterford will also be under a Status Yellow rainfall warning from 9pm tomorrow until 3am on Friday.
She said forecasters are monitoring the situation closely all the time, but warned that everywhere, across the country will be at risk due to “really damaging, dangerous winds”.
The National Emergency Co-ordination Group is meeting to discuss the situation and see what precautions will need to be taken.
Explainer: What to expect from a Status Red weather warning
A Status Orange wind warning will also be in effect for the entire country from 2am on Friday until 5pm.
Met Éireann has warned that “severe, damaging and destructive winds” are expected, with gusts of up to 130km/h.
Stronger gusts than that are also possible, it added.
That is really destructive, dangerous wind gusts, and there will also be some coastal flooding and heavy rainfall, said Ms Dillon.
Ms Dillon urged people to prepare for the storm because the advice will be to stay indoors once it hits.
“Prepare now for this event. This is what we’re doing. We’re getting that information out there that people can tie down any loose structures and really just batten down the hatches,” she said.
Yellow wind warning for Northern Ireland
The UK Met Office has issued a Yellow wind warning for Northern Ireland due to Storm Éowyn.
It said: “Storm Éowyn is expected to pass close to or across the north west of the UK on Friday before clearing to the north east on Saturday.
“Whilst there is some uncertainty in the track of Éowyn, a spell of very strong winds is likely, initially south-easterly before turning westerly, with peak gusts of 60-70 mph (96-112km/h) inland and 80-90 mph along some coasts and hills – perhaps even higher in a few locations.”
The warning for Northern Ireland is in place for all of Friday and comes with the advisory that power cuts are likely to occur.
It is also likely to affect road, rail, air and ferry services.
The Met Office said there is a chance that there could be some damage to buildings or that power lines may come down.
It added: “Injuries and danger to life could occur from flying debris, as well as large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties.”
Fifth named storm of 2024/25 season
Storm Éowyn is the fifth named storm of the 2024/25 storm season.
Since 2015, Met Éireann and the UK Met Office have been working together on the storm naming programme and were joined by the Netherlands’ KNMI in 2019.
When a storm is forecast, the national weather service that expects the biggest impact from the severe weather to hit its region, or is likely to be first affected by it, names the storm.
All three weather bodies also work together to publish the list of storm names for each season, which begins from 1 September.
It is not uncommon for named storms to occur in January, and there have been named storms in January in six of the past nine years.
Last year there were three named January storms: Henk, Isha and Jocelyn.
