The severe force of Storm Callum is due to strike Ireland tonight, bringing wind gusts of up to 130km/h to the west coast.
Donegal will be under an Orange alert from 10pm Thursday night until 12noon on Friday morning, when the worst of Callum will hit.
Met Éireann said incoming wind speeds have the capacity to produce “dangerous, stormy conditions which may constitute a risk to life and property.”
People are being warned to secure items around their properties and take precautions for personal safety. The strongest of the winds set to impact coastal areas, which includes much of Donegal.
Storm Callum is the 3rd named storm of the 2018/19 season. The weather systems has been described as a rapidly deepening Atlantic storm depression, which will advance towards the west of Ireland and track northwards by midday Friday.
Met Éireann Harmonie model’s forecast for winds and pressure pattern for 7am Friday. Image: Met.ie
“The strongest winds associated with this event will occur during the night-time hours and Friday morning rush-hour commute,” Met Éireann forecasters said.
People are being warned to stay away from exposed coastal areas for the period of the Orange warning. Motorists are advised to take extreme care and drive to anticipate strong crosswinds and other hazards such as falling/fallen trees. High sided vehicles and motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable to strong winds – slow down and give extra space to pedestrians and cyclists.
“Even though the high winds will be the main concern, a spell of heavy and possibly thundery rain will occur too, making for an extremely windy and wet start, with squally conditions associated with the secondary cold front as it tracks north-eastwards up across the country,” said forecasters.
“Additionally there is a concern for storm surge, coastal flooding, and overtopping of waves around coasts, especially Atlantic coasts, due to the coinciding high spring tides. Very high seas are expected too, along with storm and possibly violent storm force winds at sea.”
The winds are due to ease by late Friday morning.
Storm Callum follows the destructive Storm Ali (19th September) and Bronagh (20th September). Storm Ali had a severe impact on the country and led to over 186,000 ESB customers losing power for some time.
