Storm Kathleen Expected To Bring 'Treacherous Conditions'

Storm Kathleen is set to bring "treacherous conditions", with the western counties expected to see "the strongest of the winds" when it hits Ireland tomorrow morning, according to Met Éireann.

The storm is to bring gale forces and damaging gusts, with two Status Orange wind warnings also being issued.

From 7am until 2pm tomorrow, an Orange wind warning has been issued for Cork, Kerry, and Waterford, with a Status Orange warning for wind being placed in for Galway and Mayo from 9am until 6pm.

Such severe weather could lead to difficult travelling conditions, power outages, and fallen trees. 

On this, Met Éireann meteorologist Mark Bower said, "We're in this period of spring tides too, so we're going to see some coastal flooding, some wave overtopping so very treacherous conditions, particularly on those exposed coasts". 

It was also confirmed that the entire country would be placed under a Status Yellow wind warning from 5am to 8pm, with Mr Bowe stating that it will be "quite a windy day overall". 

Status Yellow - Wind warning for Ireland⚠️🌬️

Possible impacts:

• Some fallen trees
• Difficult travel conditions
• Debris, loose objects displaced
• Coastal flooding
• Wave overtopping

Valid: 05:00 Saturday to 20:00 Saturday 06/04/2024 pic.twitter.com/FvqNvhnB0L

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) April 5, 2024

Mr Bowe also revealed that a band of rain would move across Ireland from tonight, into tomorrow morning.

"The rain will be heavy at times and remember, the ground is very saturated, so it's going to cause very tricky conditions, especially for farmers out there, especially in the west, as the soils are very saturated and we do have plenty of rain on the way ahead of Storm Kathleen," Bowe said. "It's been a wet couple of days overall, but this certainly isn't helping things". 

He added, "We will see some downed trees and there'll be some power outages, there'll be plenty of debris on the roads as well, so with very difficult travel conditions". 

A Yellow wind warning has also been issued to Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry, taking effect from 8am until 10pm tomorrow.