Storm Bella – Met Eireann Adds Yellow St. Stephen’s Day Rain Warning As Wind Alert Expands Nationwide

MET Eireann has extended its yellow wind warning across the country and added a yellow rain alert before Storm Bella crashes on St. Stephen’s Day.

The national forecaster had issued a yellow wind warning for Connacht, Donegal, Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick.

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But now they’ve updated it to the entire country, to start at 3pm on Saturday and stay in place until 4am on Sunday morning.

They also added a nationwide state yellow rain warning that is valid for the same period.

The wind watch reads: “On Saturday, St. Stephen’s Day, until late afternoon, late afternoon and evening, the westerly winds associated with Storm Bella, named by the UK Met Office, will reach medium speeds. from 50 to 65 km / hr with gusts of 90 to 110 km / h, the gusts will be higher at times near the west coast.

“With the combination of strong winds, high waves and forecast storm surge, there is a risk of coastal flooding.”

“More updates will be released as needed.”

Christmas Day will be bright and dry with temperatures reaching 9 ° C.

But forecaster Liz Walsh added that “potentially stormy weather” is expected on December 26.

‘MUCH COLDER TIME’

She said: “While Christmas Day promises to be a generally calm weather-wise day with increasing clouds and erratic showers and drizzles, mainly in the northwestern areas, our weather appears to be about to become much more unstable as we are approaching the holiday weekend.

“A brief, milder period of wet and windy, potentially stormy weather is expected on Saturday in association with Storm Bella named by the British Met Office today, with much cooler weather for Sunday and early next week.

“Some very cold air emerging from northwestern Canada and Greenland is expected to meet relatively warm air over the western Atlantic, resulting in ignition of the polar front jet stream.

‘COMPLEX SYSTEM’

“A complex low pressure system, named Storm Bella by the UK Met Office this morning, is heading east over Greenland today (Christmas Eve).

“Downward gazes are set to engage the development zone of this lit Jet Stream, helping to deepen it in North Iceland on Friday, Christmas Day.”

“Storm Bella will head east over parts of Iceland on Saturday afternoon, and is expected to have become quite a large feature by then, generating a vast swath of gales, veering west to north at across the North Atlantic while interacting with the Azores high to the south.

“Then Storm Bella is forecast to continue southeast into the North Sea as it deepens a bit further on Saturday night, bringing a wave of wet and very windy weather over Ireland by Saturday afternoon / evening. / night, as an associated cold storm front moves southeast over the country. “

Alan O’Reilly of Carlow Weather said that Bella will bring “damaging gusts.”

He told his followers on Twitter: “St. Stephen’s Day (Saturday) looks very tough with heavy rain and strong winds moving across the country.

“The strongest gusts in the west and southwest. Definitely a night for the fire!”