Met Eireann has issued several weather warnings as Ireland is battered by double storms this week.
Storm Dudley made landfall on Wednesday afternoon while Storm Eunice is due to track across the country on Thursday night and Friday morning.
Several weather warnings have been issued, including the highest Status Red alert.
The national forecaster said: “Storm Eunice will track quickly over Ireland tonight and Friday morning bringing severe and damaging winds. Southwest winds veering northwest will reach mean speeds in excess of 80 km/h with gusts in excess of 130 km/h. Some coastal flooding, especially at high tide.”
What is the difference between Met Eireann’s weather warnings?
Weather Warnings are presented in three categories:
- Status Yellow – Be Aware
According to Met Eireann: "The concept behind YELLOW level weather alerts is to notify those who are at risk because of their location and/or activity, and to allow them to take preventative action. It is implicit that YELLOW level weather alerts are for weather conditions that do not pose an immediate threat to the general population, but only to those exposed to risk by nature of their location and/or activity."
- Status Orange - Be Prepared
Met Eireann say: "This category of ORANGE level weather warnings is for weather conditions which have the capacity to impact significantly on people in the affected areas. The issue of an Orange level weather warning implies that all recipients in the affected areas should prepare themselves in an appropriate way for the anticipated conditions."
- Status Red - Take Action
"The issue of RED level severe weather warnings should be a comparatively rare event and implies that recipients take action to protect themselves and/or their properties; this could be by moving their families out of the danger zone temporarily; by staying indoors; or by other specific actions aimed at mitigating the effects of the weather conditions," Met Eireann explained.
What weather conditions are warned for?
Hazards deriving from the following weather-related types are covered by Met Eireann’s weather warnings system:
- Wind
- Rain
- Snow
- Low Temperatures
- Fog High
- Temperatures
- Thunderstorms
- Coastal Wind Warnings
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