LAST UPDATE | 21 Nov 2024

THE SECOND STORM of the winter season has been named by Met Éireann: Storm Bert.

The storm will bring new weather warnings with it, including a Status Orange warning for rain on Saturday night into Saturday morning.

A number of weather warnings for ice, snow and rain that were in place this week and a national Status Yellow low temperature/ice warning is also in place until midday tomorrow.

This weekend, Storm Bert will move close to Ireland and displace the recent cold Artic airmass.

Very strong winds and heavy rain will track north eastwards over the country on Friday night, which will continue right through the weekend.  

The first of the Storm Bert alerts will come into place tomorrow night, when the entire country will be placed under a Status Yellow alert for wind and rain from 10pm Friday to 12 noon Saturday. 

Met Éireann has warned of possible localised flooding, travel disruption, and the risk of fallen trees.

Then on midnight Saturday and into morning, a Status Orange warning for rain will come into effect across Cork, Galway, and Kerry.

This alert will be in place from midnight on Saturday to 10am on Saturday mornng.

Met Éireann said Storm Bert will bring intense falls of rain over a short period of time in these counties and that impacts could include surface flooding, river flooding, and very difficult travelling conditions.

The new weather alerts related to Storm Bert come on the back of public transport and power services being cut across the west, midlands and south west this morning due to overnight snow and ice.

Some services are still disrupted today or operating at reduced capacity as a result.

Some schools also closed today as a result of the snow and motorists have been urged to take extra caution amid hazardous driving conditions in certain areas.

Mayo County Council warned of low-hanging power lines.

The weather also impacted some local radio stations that are being used by people to keep up with the weather.

Cork County Council has said crews will be deployed to inspect “key high-risk areas and will continue to monitor the situation throughout the period”. 

“Pumping arrangements will be in place in known problem locations. Sandbags will be available at priority locations. Flood barriers will be installed in Mallow and Fermoy as a precaution,” the Council said.

The Council advised members of the public to “exercise caution as driving conditions may be dangerous overnight on Friday and into Saturday morning, with spot flooding possible”. 

‘Very wet and windy’ weekend

Met Éireann meteorologist Andrew Doran-Sherlock said Storm Bert will bring milder but very wet and windy conditions for the weekend.

On Saturday, there will be day-time highs of 12 to 15 degrees and eight to 10 degrees overnight.

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Highest temperatures on Sunday will range from 11 to 14 degrees during the day, dropping to five to eight degrees overnight.

Doran-Sherlock said that heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday will likely lead to localised flooding in urban areas and some river catchments, particularly in the west and southwest, as this rain is falling on already saturated and waterlogged ground.  

Storm Bert has been named by Met Éireann. ⚠️

Becoming very wet and windy on Friday night, with further spells of strong winds and heavy rain over the weekend.

Stay up to date on https://t.co/dz6JbE5FIb #StormBert #MetÉireann pic.twitter.com/daVQZ1jo2v

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) November 21, 2024

He added that Met Éireann is closely monitoring the situation and will upgrade or issue warnings as its high resolution model is analysed.  

This model provides information two-days ahead.

He remarked that there is a strong likelihood of status orange wind warnings in western and northwestern counties.

The impacts from Storm Bert will commence later on Friday and continue through the weekend and potentially through early next week as well.

-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper