Met Eireann upgrade weather warning to Status Orange as Storm Betty arrives

Stephen Porzio

Three counties have even been hit with a Status Orange warning.

All 32 counties in Ireland have been hit with weather warnings as heavy rain and thundery downpours are set to extend nationwide during Friday evening (August 18th).

A result of the newly named Storm Betty, the most severe of these warnings is a Status Orange wind and rainfall alert issued by Met Éireann which applies to Cork, Kilkenny and Waterford and is scheduled to take effect from 9 pm on Friday until 3 am on Saturday.

It reads: “Late this evening and tonight, Storm Betty will bring south to southwest gales with severe gusts of up to 130 km/hr. Spells of heavy rain and possible coastal flooding.”

The potential impacts of these conditions listed by Met Éireann are “structural damage, falling trees, travel disruption, power outages, localised flooding and wave overtopping”.

#StormBetty has been named by Met Éireann

Potential Impacts:
• Structural damage
• Falling trees
• Travel disruption.
• Power outages.
• Localised flooding
• Wave overtopping.

Affected Regions: Cork, Kilkenny, and Waterford ⤵️https://t.co/Xg3aMJlyuS pic.twitter.com/NMMnxZdGIc

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) August 18, 2023

A number of Status Yellow weather warnings have also been issued by the Irish meteorological service.

The first of these set to take effect is a rain alert for Carlow, Galway, Kilkenny, Laois, Munster, Offaly and Wexford that will be valid from 2 pm on Friday until 3 am on Saturday.

Another Status Yellow rain warning has also been issued for Cavan, Donegal, Dublin, Kildare, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo, Westmeath and Wicklow and will take effect between 5pm on Friday and 6am the next day.

Both alerts warn of potential “spot flooding and difficult travelling conditions,” with the latter also warning of “wave overtopping on eastern facing coasts”.

On top of this, Met Éireann have published a Status Yellow wind warning for Leinster and Munster. This is scheduled to be in effect between 9pm on Friday and 6am on Saturday.

“Becoming very windy with southeast winds, veering southwest gusting up to 110km/h, higher on exposed coasts and hills,” it reads.

“Potential impacts: Damage to temporary structures. travel disruption, power outages, wave overtopping.”

Meanwhile, the UK Met Office has issued a Status Yellow wind warning for Antrim and Down (valid from 6pm Friday until 12pm Saturday) and a Status Yellow rain warning for Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone (valid from 9pm Friday until 6am Saturday).

Main image via Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie