Ireland is preparing for a possibly turbulent weekend as Met Éireann has cautioned that severe weather could be approaching. Forecasters are tracking a low-pressure system moving in from the Atlantic, which may bring strong winds and heavy rain likely to cause disruption, reports The Mirror.
Although the specific impact remains unclear for now, the national weather service has already issued several warnings—one of which is a rain alert covering Clare, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, and Sligo, effective until 6pm on Thursday.
Friday is expected to see intense rainfall and moderate winds particularly in the north and west, but the most significant weather may arrive over the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, the Atlantic system could bring very wet conditions and blustery winds, reports The Mirror.
Forecast models indicate the weather system might affect the country for most of the weekend, clearing out by Monday evening. If the storm becomes intense enough, it could be officially named Storm Gerben—marking it as Ireland’s seventh named storm this season.
A storm earns a name when orange or red alerts are issued for weather events that may have moderate to high impacts, such as severe winds, flooding rains, or snow, reports The Mirror.
Social media weather watchers have been discussing how serious this system might get. Dublin Weather commented: “A lot of uncertainty on how deep the low area on Saturday will get but there is a possibility that we may have our next storm on the way… Still a few days off but if so it looks like it will be called Gerben.”
Meanwhile, Carlow Weather shared: “A very windy weekend ahead and total rainfall up to Sunday night shows risk of some flooding in parts of West and Northwest. Total rainfall forecast for next 48 hours with over 15mm for many and over 20 for some with West and Northwest seeing the highest amounts,” reports The Mirror.
Met Eireann has also provided a detailed day by day breakdown for the weekend. It said: “A bright start for most Friday with scattered showers continuing to move in from the west. Showers will turn heavy at times in the north and west, but will ease towards the evening. Elsewhere, there’ll be sunny spells, with the best of these in the east and southeast. Cloud will begin to build in the southwest later in the evening. Highest temperatures of 15C to 20C in light to moderate westerly winds. A rather wet and windy start to Saturday as that band of rain continues to spread across the country. Heavy downpours are most likely in the south, west, and northwest with the possibility of spot flooding. Throughout the afternoon, scattered showers will develop as that rain clears with brighter spells developing by the evening. Highest temperatures of 15C to 19C in moderate to fresh southerly winds, gusty at times on Atlantic coasts,” reports The Mirror.
“Sunny spells and scattered showers will move across the country throughout Sunday, turning heavy at times over parts of Ulster and Connacht. Highest temperatures of 15C to 18C in moderate to fresh southwesterly winds, gusty at times near coasts. While there is uncertainty in the exact detail, early next week is looking to remain unsettled with further spells of rain and showers. Monday and Tuesday will both see a mix of sunny spells and scattered showers, the most frequent and heaviest of those showers staying to west Atlantic coasts. Daytime temperatures will be similar to late ranging in the mid to high teens,” reports The Mirror.
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