Storm Amy brings weather warnings to entire island of Ireland

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Several counties will fall under an orange-level weather warning as Storm Amy barrels towards the island of Ireland.

Local authorities in the west are already preparing for its impact, with members of the Donegal Civil Defence laying sandbags at houses. In Galway, coastal car parks around the city are being closed until further notice and officials are advising motorists to move their vehicles from the locations which regularly fall foul of flooding. High tide in Salthill is expected at around 3.30pm on Friday.

It comes on top of yellow-level warnings, which will apply to all counties at some points across Thursday and Friday.

Met Éireann meteorologist Ailis Hankinson said Storm Amy will bring wet and very windy conditions on Friday.

She said: “It is the first storm of the season so it’s essential to be prepared for potential impacts caused by the strong winds and the rain.

“There could be difficult travelling conditions, loose objects or flying debris.

“Trees are still in leaf at this time of the year, so there could be higher impacts from fallen trees and leaves blocking drains, causing localised flooding.

“Small, upland river catchments are the most at risk of flooding, so precautions for potential localised flooding in these areas are also important.”

A nationwide Status Yellow wind warning will come into effect for the country between midday and midnight on Friday.

Met Éireann said potential impacts include fallen trees, flying debris and difficult travelling conditions.

There could be gale-force winds in the north west, with five counties coming under a more severe Status Orange wind warning.

Those in Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo are additionally warned of possible wave overtopping and possible power outages.

From earlier in the day, a yellow warning for rain will apply to Galway and Kerry between 9am and 3pm on Friday.

Along the coast, there is also a Status Red Storm warning from Loop Head to Rossan Point to Fair Head between 2pm and 8pm on Friday.

Saturday also sees further Status Yellow warnings.

These are a wind warning for Dublin, Louth and Wicklow between 6am and noon, a combined wind and rain warning for Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo between midnight and noon, and a wind warning for Clare, Kerry, Galway and Mayo also between midnight and noon.

In Northern Ireland, a Yellow wind warning is in place for the entire region between 2pm on Friday and midday on Saturday.

The UK Met Office said Storm Amy is expected to bring a spell of strong winds to Northern Ireland during Friday and Friday night.

Westerly winds will pick up during the afternoon, peaking during the evening with gusts of 50 to 60 mph likely for many areas and could reach 60 to 70 mph for a time.

Exposed coasts and hills will see the highest gusts, which could exceed 70mph.

There is a slight chance of some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs while transport delays are likely. There is a slight chance that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

Storm Amy is the remnants of Hurricane Humberto, which rattled the Caribbean and east coast of the United States in recent days.