Warnings issued as Storm Dennis to bring very wet and windy weather over weekend
by Stephen McNeiceMet Éireann has issued two weather warnings ahead of the arrival of Storm Dennis over the weekend.
Very wet and very windy weather has been forecast for the coming days, with some flooding and damaging gusty winds likely between Saturday and Monday.
Ahead of the storm's arrival, two separate warnings have been issued for the entire country.
A status yellow wind warning is valid from 3am tomorrow morning until 8pm.
Winds with mean speeds of 50 to 65 km/hr and gusts to around 100 km/hr are expected, strongest on exposed coasts and hills.
Meanwhile, a rainfall warning is in place between 6am and 9pm tomorrow - with forecasters expecting spells of heavy, locally thundery rain.
Forecasters say more warnings are likely to be issued over the course of the weekend.
Met Éireann forecaster Deirdre Lowe explained: "The first of the very strong winds will arrive on the west coast towards the end of Friday night, becoming very windy country-wide on Saturday morning with widespread heavy, thundery rain.
"On Sunday we're going to have the worst of the winds, with Storm Dennis coming closer to Ireland on Sunday evening.
"We will be issuing warnings - likely yellow warnings country countrywide for the weekend, [but] reaching orange in Atlantic coastal counties... particularly the north-west later on Sunday."