Orange weather alert issued as Storm Jorge prepares to hit Ireland

Storm Jorge is the latest in a series of Atlantic storms this month and is due to affect Ireland from early Saturday, according to Met Eireann

The national forecaster has issued a status orange weather alert for seven counties warning of high winds and flooding as Storm Jorge passes over Ireland this coming weekend.

Counties Galway, Mayo, Clare and Kerry are covered by the alert from 6am on Saturday until 3am on Sunday.

The second orange warning for Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo is in place from midday on Saturday until 3am on Sunday.

A status yellow rainfall warning is in place for Munster, Connacht and Donegal from midnight on Thursday until midnight on Saturday. Rainfall accumulations of up to 30mm are expected during Friday and Saturday generally but 40 to 50 mm of rain could fall in parts of Kerry.

Orange and Yellow wind warnings associated with #StormJorgehttps://t.co/ozrQHtoOkt pic.twitter.com/0WSsXcmaPG

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) February 27, 2020

A fourth, yellow weather alert is in place for Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Roscommon, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford between 9am on Saturday and 3am on Sunday. Gusts of up to 110km/h are expected.

Severe winds

“Storm Jorge is forecast to bring severe winds to western and northwestern coastal counties (orange wind warning) and less severe winds to the rest of the country (yellow wind warning) from Saturday morning into early Sunday morning.

Saturday

“On Saturday Storm Jorge will impact Ireland with strong winds and heavy rain expected. It will be a cold day with widespread showers and coastal gales. Showers will be mainly confined to the west and south during the morning, but will become widespread as the day goes on, and will be a mix of rain, hail, sleet and possibly snow. There will also be a risk of thunder.

“There’ll be widespread wintry showers continuing early on Saturday night, with lowest temperatures of 2 to 4 degrees, in strong and gusty southwest to west winds,” they said.

Sunday 

Going into Sunday, there will be bright spells and “further wintry showers.”

“More persistent rain will affect south Munster and south Leinster, possibly turning to sleet or snow on higher ground, with temperatures of 4-7 degrees.”

Sunday night is to be cold and dry with scattered showers turning wintry at times.

Main photograph: @MetEireann

Read more: 6 ‘bad weather’ movies to watch on rainy days like this

Read more: 5 engrossing books worth reading during bad weather

Read more: How to keep your dogs calm during a storm