Storm Atiyah to bring strong winds across country from Sunday

A status orange weather warning has been issued for a number of counties with very strong winds expected from Sunday.

The orange warning is in place for counties Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Kerry, Limerick from 9am on Sunday morning to 6am on Monday.

Met Éireann says Storm Atiyah will track between Iceland and Ireland on Sunday generating a swathe of very strong winds across the country. The forecaster said southwesterly winds, later veering northwesterly will reach mean speeds of 65 to 80 km/h with gusts from 110 to 130km/h.

While the actual storm will remain quite far from Ireland’s north coast, people on the west coast are advised to take extra precautions on Sunday and into Monday morning, said Met Éireann forecaster Elizabeth Coleman.

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There is a possibility of coastal flooding due to a combination of high seas and storm surge.

A yellow wind warning is set to come into place for the rest of the country from 3pm on Sunday to 6am on Monday as winds reach mean speeds of 50 to 60 km/h with gusts of up to 100 km/h.

This weekend’s storm is typical for this time of year due to the current “mobile Atlantic regime”, said Ms Coleman, adding that milder temperatures are set to continue in the coming days.

“We’re at that period when it’s sometimes milder at night time than it is during the day,” she said. Temperatures will range between 6-8 degrees in the coming days, rising to 10 degrees at night.

Once Storm Atiyah clears, Monday is expected to be a clear and dry day. However, milder air will bring rainfall on Tuesday and more unsettled weather. Temperatures are expected to become colder on Wednesday and Thursday.

Named by Met Éireann, Atiyah comes from a list compiled by the Irish forecaster and the UK Met Office to cover the 2019-2020 storm season.

The system of naming storms was first introduced in 2015 to help raise awareness of the threat and impact of severe weather in Ireland and the UK before it hits.