Ireland has been put on Tornado Watch for today by the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO).
There is the potential for “one or two” tornadoes throughout the day and into the evening, the UK-based organisation has said.
However, it seems “unlikely” that we’ll see any dramatic spectacles as part of this warning.
TORRO has issued a Tornado Watch for the Republic of Ireland and parts of Northern Ireland that would include “isolated tornadoes”.
A statement on their website said: “Rather intense, vertically-stack low is to the SW of the Republic of Ireland this morning. A well-marked shortwave trough is rotating around the eastern flank, marked by a line of heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms.”
It also said that it was possible we’d see one or two tornadoes throughout September 5, with the warning issued from the morning to 11:59pm. “The persistence of active thunderstorms with northward-extent is somewhat uncertain, hence the rather large area,” the statement said.
“Strong wind gusts and reasonably-large hail are possible with the more active cells, with CG lightning/heavy rain additional hazards.”
TORRO defines severe thunderstorms as having one or more tornadoes or waterspouts, having hail with a diameter of at least 20mm or having non-tornadic winds gusting to 55 mph or more at surface, but which are “not part of synoptic-scale straight-line winds of such velocities”.
“Thunder/lightning does not necessarily need to be present for any of the conditions listed above to occur,” the organisation states.
However, those looking to catch a glimpse of the tornado may be out of luck. The risk is rather low, with strong gusts more likely.
A spokesperson from Met Eireann said: “An isolated small scale tornado would be unlikely but possible.
“More likely, someone would experience a sudden gust or squally winds for a short period.”
Heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms could lead to “sudden strong gusts or squally winds very locally”, the national forecaster has predicted.
A yellow level weather warning for wind and rain is currently in place for Cork, Waterford and Kerry until 11pm tonight, with heavy showers also expected to hit other counties.
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