Violent coastal winds will give way to breezy new year

HIGH WINDS that lashed northern coasts yesterday will give way to a mild and breezy new year, forecasters have said.

Connacht and Ulster coasts experienced the worst of the winds yesterday, as westerly gales gusting up to 125km/h hit some northerly headlands.

While surfers made the most of the weather along the Antrim coast, sections of a coastal path at Portrush, popular with walkers, were washed away by high winds and high tides.

Met Éireann forecaster David Rogers said remote coastal headlands took the brunt of the weather. “If you happened to be at Malin Head late this morning, there was a gust of 68 knots – that’s around 78 miles per hour,” he said. He said the combination of high winds and tides was likely to have brought some “over-topping” with sea water washing on to coastal paths in places.

Meanwhile, around the rest of the country, walkers, sale-shoppers and racegoers were buffeted by the winds which, while forecasters said were “nothing extreme for the time of year”, reached 20-25 knots, gusting to 30-35 knots in places. The winds have closed the Mulroy Bridge in Donegal, with motorists advised to use the Carrigart/Milford road and the Milford Tamney road.

As the number of fatalities on Irish roads since last Friday rose to seven yesterday, AA Roadwatch warned cyclists and pedestrians to wear high-visibility clothing.

Drivers of high-sided vehicles, especially vulnerable on open or exposed roads, were also urged to take care.

With gusts abating last night, even in exposed headlands, forecasters say winds will be less severe today.

“It will be a breezy day, a cloudy day with outbreaks of rain. The temperatures will range from about 7-10 degrees in the afternoon, which is about average for this time of year.”

The outlook for those travelling for new year’s celebrations is mixed, according to forecasters.

“It will remain changeable but there is nothing particularly severe indicated in the near future. It’s going to be windy. There will be rain at times, interspersed with showery periods. Temperatures will be up and down, but there won’t be any extremes of temperatures.”