LAST UPDATE | 10 hrs ago

A STATUS ORANGE wind warning has been issued for five counties as Storm Kathleen is set to hit Ireland on Saturday.

Met Éireann said the storm will bring gale force southerly winds, with some severe and damaging gusts.

This could potentially result in very difficult travel conditions, fallen trees, some power outages, coastal flooding and wave overtopping.

The Orange alert will come into effect for counties Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Galway and Mayo at 7am on Saturday and remain in place until 5pm that evening.

⚠️#StormKathleen has been named by Met Éireann

Storm Kathleen will bring gale force southerly winds, with some severe and damaging gusts.

Onset 07:00 Saturday 06/04/ to 17:00 Saturday 06/04/2024

Keep updated here⬇️https://t.co/z40PFYenWU pic.twitter.com/UibOKa4P7F

— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) April 4, 2024

A Status Yellow wind warning will be in place for the rest of the country from 7am to 8pm on Saturday. A Status Yellow warning is also in place in the six counties of Northern Ireland. 

Met Éireann said the storm could lead to some fallen trees, difficult travel conditions, displaced debris and loose objects, and some coastal flooding in the rest of the country. 

“Storm Kathleen is a significant low-pressure system tracking off the west coast which will bring strong southerly winds and damaging gusts across the country on Saturday,” Met Éireann said. 

Deputy head of forecasting Liz Coleman said that because so many people are likely to be travelling home after Easter holidays, drivers “may not be expecting such unseasonably strong and gusty winds”.

She encouraged people to plan their journeys in advance and to keep an eye on the forecast.

“We are likely to see some trees down due to the saturated soils and strong winds. There will be dangerous conditions at sea too, coupled with wave overtopping and coastal flooding in some areas,” she said.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has paused all non-essential farm inspections until 22 April, while adverse weather conditions persist.

Cork County Council has also issued advice ahead of the storm after a meeting of its severe weather assessment team.

“Members of the public are advised to stay high, stay dry and stay away from the coast, rivers and lakes.  With strong gusts and high waves predicted, people are urged to refrain from visiting coastal areas,” the Council said in a statement.

The Dursey Cable Car, which connects Dursey Island to the West Cork mainland, will not be running on Saturday and service will resume once wind speeds have died down sufficiently, the Council said.

The Council encouraged people to check its website for updates and to contact it with information on flooding and fallen trees.

The UK Met Office has also issued a Yellow Wind Warning for Northern Ireland, which will be in effect from 8am to 10pm on Saturday.

The alphabetical system for naming storms means that names beginning with a ‘K’ are a relative rarity. 

So far, the only time we reached ‘K’ under the current storm naming system was back in the 2015/2016 season when Storm Katie landed in late March of 2016.

While other storms have been ascribed nicknames in the past – most notably, in recent years, 2014′s ‘Darwin’ – the official Met Éireann-endorsed storm naming system only began in autumn of 2015.

Initially, it was a joint project by Met Éireann and the UK Met Office – with the Netherlands’ weather service joining up and contributing suggestions for storm names since 2019. (Which explains why we sometimes end up with storms called things like ‘Henk’).

The weather is set to remain unsettled with spells of rain and patches of sunshine at times.

Today will be dry and cloudy with some patchy mist and drizzle in places, though rain will develop in the south later this afternoon. This will spread northwards through the evening, turning heavy at times.

Tonight will see persistent rain which will gradually clear to the north, with lowest temperatures of 6 to 10 degrees, coldest in Ulster. 

Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with blustery showers or longer spells of rain, which will clear to the north through the afternoon and see bright spells develop.

The evening will be mild, with highest temperatures of 13 to 16 degrees and fresh, gusty southerly winds.

Includes reporting from David Mac Redmond and Eoghan Dalton