Storm Darragh has been named (6th – 7th December 2024)
Updated on 6th December 2024, valid until further notice
LATEST UPDATES
Storm Darragh is developing into a dangerous and very impactful storm, bringing very strong and damaging winds, with dangerous gusts, which are expected to affect the whole country tonight (Friday) and into tomorrow (Saturday) morning.
Storm Darragh brings strong north-westerly winds, which is unusual for Ireland in terms of the combination of such strength and wind direction.This means extra care should be taken. Vulnerable trees and structures that may normally be sheltered from typical storms over Ireland could be more exposed to the strong winds this time around.
Met Éireann has issued red wind warnings for a number of west and northwest counties and for Wicklow in the east, while the rest of the country will be under an orange wind warning tonight and into tomorrow. The warnings can still evolve at this stage as more high-resolution model runs are analysed, so please stay close to the forecast for your area.
While the counties under red wind warning are expected to see extremely strong gusts (more than 130 km/h) and impacts derived of those, the orange wind warning should not be underestimated as it can bring gusts of up to 130 km/h. This wind strength is infrequent and dangerous and can also pose a threat to life and property.
Expected impacts are:
Dangerous travelling conditions, disruption to travel
Fallen trees
Damage to power lines, power outages
Structural damage, especially to temporary structures
Loose debris
Wave overtopping
Potential river flooding brought by the heavy rain over saturated ground
Surface water due to intense rainfall
Stay Back, Stay High, Stay Dry: Coastal areas across the country but specially in the west and northwest, should be avoided, as the winds will be extremely dangerous and can provoke wave overtopping.
Impacts will start to be felt across this evening and tonight, but power outages, fallen trees and difficult travelling conditions will still be felt after the warnings expire. Please consider any action you can take to prepare you, your family and your property for the arrival of this storm and follow guidance from your local authority and emergency management stakeholders for on-ground, real-time conditions (see below for more safety guidance).
Met Éireann Meteorologist, Liz Walsh, explains:
“Storm Darragh will be a significant and impactful weather event. Strong winds are expected across all parts of the Island. The most intense and damaging gusts are expected to occur tonight and early Saturday morning, especially in, but not limited to, the areas under red warning alerts.
Red warnings are issued when rare and very dangerous weather conditions are expected. We ask people to follow the instructions and advice given by the authorities and be prepared; take action and secure any loose objects ahead of the storm and plan your journeys safely, especially if you need to be out on Saturday morning as there could be trees or power lines down.
There will also be heavy rain associated with Storm Darragh which may lead to some localised flooding, along with hazardous travelling conditions.”
SAFETY FIRST – HOW TO STAY SAFE IN EXTREME WEATHER
Stay up-to date with the forecast and the warnings for your county on met.ie, the Met Éireann app or Met Éireann socials (@meteireann).
Check in with your local authority and emergency management stakeholders (Irish Coast Guards, Gardaí, etc) via their websites and social channels to see how your area will be/is affected.
Ensure your mobile is phone is fully charged to enable communication in advance of the event and keep local emergency numbers in your phone.
Keep a small amount of food, medical and water supplies in case it’s dangerous to step out of the home.
While on the road in strong winds, beware of fallen trees or other debris and high sided vehicles, particularly when overtaking. If you are driving a high sided vehicle, try to anticipate exposed sections of roadway where winds will be stronger.
ESB Networks is highlighting the dangers posed by fallen live wires and advises the public and the emergency services to stay away from fallen cables and to report such cases immediately. ESB Emergency Services can be contacted at 1800 372 999.
You can monitor www.powercheck.ie in regards to power restoration times
Stay away from coastal areas during the period. Remember the advice from the Irish Coast Guard: “Stay Back, Stay High, Stay Dry”.
Don’t try to walk, cycle or drive through flooded areas, the depth of the water can be deceiving.
Remember: As little as 150mm of fast-flowing water can knock you off your feet and 300mm of fast-flowing water can move most cars off the road.
Advance planning for flooding: You can consult the OPW flood maps, which show areas that may be at risk of flooding based on historical data (see www.floodinfo.ie).
“Be Winter Ready”: All these recommendations and more are on gov.ie – Be Winter Ready (www.gov.ie)
—————————————-end of update ———————————————–
Issued on5thDecember 2024, valid until further notice
OVERVIEW
Storm Darragh has been named by the UK Met Office. The low-pressure system is set to track over Ireland on Friday afternoon and into Saturday morning, moving over to the UK on Saturday afternoon.
Why Darragh and not Conall? Storm Conall was named by the Dutch meteorological service on 26th November but it was not forecasted to affect Ireland. It did affect the UK and the Netherlands but not Ireland.
What can we expect in Ireland?
Storm Darragh will bring strong and gusty south to southwest winds on Friday afternoon across Ireland. The winds will veer northwest and intensify on Friday night in the southwest, west and northwest of the country, but also in parts of the southeast in the early hours of Saturday, before clearing over to the UK. A yellow wind warning has been issued for the whole of Ireland and orange wind warnings have been issued for areas most affected by intense winds. Travel disruptions and dangerous travelling conditions, fallen trees, displaced objects and power outages can be expected, as well as dangerous conditions at sea and wave over-topping in some coastal areas.
Figure 1 – Hourly mean winds and max gusts. The colours represent wind warning levels for gusts from Friday afternoon (05th December) into Saturday (06th December).
Storm Darragh will also bring heavyrain through Friday followed by heavy showers on Saturday morning.A yellow rainfall warninghas been issued over thenorthern half of the country.The ground is saturated or waterlogged countrywide, so any additionalrainfall will flow overland, resulting in surface water flooding, and flow straight into the river network.Some river levels in the West, Midlands and South-Westare still above average, and the additionalforecast rain could result inlocalised river flooding.
Figure 2 – 6 hour rainfall forecast showing heavy rain sweeping across the country on Friday night (05th December) followed by heavy scattered showers into Saturday (06th December).
Deputy Head of Forecasting Liz Coleman, explains: “Storm Darragh is going to bring quite impactful winds across the country through Friday and into Saturday as the centre of the storm tracks across the northwest of the country.
While it will be windy everywhere, it’s the gusts which can be the most damaging. The intense winds are expected to occur overnight but will continue for a time into Saturday morning, especially in those counties under orange wind warnings. We ask people to be prepared and to secure any loose objects ahead of the storm and to plan their journeys safely if they need to be out on Saturday morning as there could be trees or power lines down.
There will also be heavy rain associated with Storm Darragh which may lead to some localised flooding, along with hazardous travelling conditions.”
Post Darragh:
On Saturday, as storm Darragh clears eastwards towards the UK and continental Europe, Ireland will lie in a cold and strong north to northwest airflow. This will feed in showers from the north, of rain, sleet and hail, with some snow showers likely over higher ground. The showers will be most widespread across the north and west but will make their way across the country in fresh to strong and gusty northwest winds.
SAFETY FIRST – HOW TO STAY SAFE IN EXTREME WEATHER
Stay up-to date with the forecast and the warnings for your county on met.ie, the Met Éireann app or Met Éireann socials (@meteireann).
Check in with your local authority and emergency management stakeholders (Irish Coast Guards, Gardaí, etc) via their websites and social channels to see how your area will be/is affected.
Ensure your mobile is phone is fully charged to enable communication in advance of the event and keep local emergency numbers in your phone.
Keep a small amount of food, medical and water supplies in case it’s dangerous to step out of the home.
While on the road in strong winds, beware of fallen trees or other debris and high sided vehicles, particularly when overtaking. If you are driving a high sided vehicle, try to anticipate exposed sections of roadway where winds will be stronger.
ESB Networks is highlighting the dangers posed by fallen live wires and advises the public and the emergency services to stay away from fallen cables and to report such cases immediately. ESB Emergency Services can be contacted at 1800 372 999.
You can monitor www.powercheck.ie in regards to power restoration times .
Stay away from coastal areas during the period. Remember the advice from the Irish Coast Guard: “Stay Back, Stay High, Stay Dry”.
Don’t try to walk, cycle or drive through flooded areas, the depth of the water can be deceiving.
Remember: As little as 150mm of fast-flowing water can knock you off your feet and 300mm of fast-flowing water can move most cars off the road.
Advance planning for flooding: You can consult the OPW flood maps, which show areas that may be at risk of flooding based on historical data (see www.floodinfo.ie).
“Be Winter Ready”: All these recommendations and more are on gov.ie – Be Winter Ready (www.gov.ie)
NOTE THAT:
The warnings are likely to be updated. Please keep in touch with Met Éireann’s social media channels, www.met.ie and the Met Éireann app to stay up to date with the forecast and any warnings updates.
The timing and location of extreme weather occurrences can significantly affect their impact. It’s important to note that in any individual weather event, not every location within a warning area may experience the same degree of weather or impacts.
When severe weather is expected, weather and impacts at lower levels are also likely to be experienced. The type and level of impacts can be strongly affected by previous weather conditions. When issuing a warning, Met Éireann takes into consideration the forecasted conditions and thresholds, as well as previous weather conditions that may increase the level of impact expected for particular areas.
WHY AND HOW ARE STORMS NAMED?
Storms are named when they could cause ‘medium’ or ‘high’ impacts in one of the three partner countries. This enables consistent, authoritative messaging to the public and other stakeholders to help them to prepare for and stay safe during potentially severe weather events.
Since 2015, Met Éireann and the UK Met Office have been working together on the naming program and were joined by the Netherlands’ KNMI in 2019, to form the ‘western group’ of European weather services.
When a storm is forecast, the national weather service that expects the biggest impact from the severe weather to hit its region, or is likely to be first affected by it, names the storm. Storm naming happens in conjunction with orange/red weather warnings, which could be for wind, rain or snow, or a combination of these conditions. Those warnings are, in turn, issued based on a combination of numerical thresholds and the potential impacts foreseen.
HOW ARE STORM NAMES CHOSEN?
Met Éireann, the UK Met Office and KNMI publish a new list of storm names for each Storm Season, which commences on 1st September.
This 2024/25 season, each of the three meteorological services contributed seven names to the season’s list. Met Éireann’s contributions to this year’s list were taken from more than 500 suggestions by primary school children participating in ESB Science Blast last February.
The full 2024/25 list is Ashley, Bert, Conall, Darragh, Éowyn, Floris, Gerben, Hugo, Izzy, James, Kayleigh, Lewis, Mavis, Naoise, Otje, Poppy, Rafi, Sayuri, Tilly, Vivienne, Wren, with Met Éireann contributing the names for C, D, H, I, N, P and V (names chosen by Met Éireann in bold).
(Note – letters Q, U, X, Y, Z are not included, in line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming convention.)
PAST STORM SEASONS OVERVIEW
December storms: It is very common to have named storms in the month of December. Since the naming initiative started in 2015, only December 2022 went by without named storms, while all other seasons saw between one and four storms in the month of December. One to remember is Storm Barra around this time in 2021 (7th December), with damaging gusts of up to 135 km/h in coastal areas of the west and southwest of Ireland.
Last season (2023/24) there were fourteen (14) named storms affecting the area, twelve (12) of which were named by the Western Europe Group, formed by UK Met Office, KNMI and Met Éireann, and the other two (2) storms (Elisa and Geraldine) by the Southwestern Europe Group, made up of France, Portugal and Spain.
2023/24 was the season with the highest number of storms named in a season by the Western Europe Group list (12 storms) .
2023/24 is the first season since the initiative began in 2015 in which an ‘L’ storm was named from the list of the Western Europe Group – Storm Lilian in August 2024.
The lowest number of named storms since the initiative began was the four (4) named in 2022/23.
Prior to the 2023/24 season, the highest number of named storms occurred in the 2015/16 and 2017/18 seasons, with eleven (11) named storms in each.
Since 2015/16, there has been an average of eight (8) named storms in each season.
Season 2015/2016 remains the season with the greatest number of storms reaching Storm Force 10, as nine (9) of the eleven (11) named storms observed Storm Force 10 sustained wind speeds at Atlantic coastal stations.
During the past season 2023/24, there were three (3) named storms with Storm Force 10 sustained wind speeds or higher.
Storm Force 10 sustained (10-minute mean) wind speeds were observed during named Storm Fergus (91 km/h) and Storm Jocelyn (96 km/h), at Mace Head (coastal), Co Galway on Sunday 10th December 2023 and Tuesday 23rd January 2024 respectively.
Violent Storm Force 11 sustained wind speeds were observed at Mace Head (coastal), Co Galway during Storm Isha on Sunday 21st January 2024. Before that, Violent Storm Force winds had been last observed during Storm Eunice on Friday 18th February 2022.
No Hurricane strength sustained/mean winds at any Met Éireann wind station have been observed since the Storm Naming initiative began. Storm Ellen in August 2020 came very close to observing winds of this strength, with 111 km/h at Roches Point, Co Cork. The last hurricane force winds affecting Ireland were observed during Storm Darwin on Wednesday 12th February 2014. Hurricane force winds have been observed at coastal western stations, mainly in January (half the time), twice in December and once in February, March and September.
For more information on storm names and past storms, Storm Centre and Major Weather Events.
Storm Darragh has been named (6th – 7th December 2024)
Updated on 6th December 2024, valid until further notice
LATEST UPDATES
Expected impacts are:
Met Éireann Meteorologist, Liz Walsh, explains:
“Storm Darragh will be a significant and impactful weather event. Strong winds are expected across all parts of the Island. The most intense and damaging gusts are expected to occur tonight and early Saturday morning, especially in, but not limited to, the areas under red warning alerts.
Red warnings are issued when rare and very dangerous weather conditions are expected. We ask people to follow the instructions and advice given by the authorities and be prepared; take action and secure any loose objects ahead of the storm and plan your journeys safely, especially if you need to be out on Saturday morning as there could be trees or power lines down.
There will also be heavy rain associated with Storm Darragh which may lead to some localised flooding, along with hazardous travelling conditions.”
SAFETY FIRST – HOW TO STAY SAFE IN EXTREME WEATHER
—————————————-end of update ———————————————–
Issued on 5th December 2024, valid until further notice
OVERVIEW
Storm Darragh has been named by the UK Met Office. The low-pressure system is set to track over Ireland on Friday afternoon and into Saturday morning, moving over to the UK on Saturday afternoon.
What can we expect in Ireland?
Figure 1 – Hourly mean winds and max gusts. The colours represent wind warning levels for gusts from Friday afternoon (05th December) into Saturday (06th December).
Figure 2 – 6 hour rainfall forecast showing heavy rain sweeping across the country on Friday night (05th December) followed by heavy scattered showers into Saturday (06th December).
Deputy Head of Forecasting Liz Coleman, explains: “Storm Darragh is going to bring quite impactful winds across the country through Friday and into Saturday as the centre of the storm tracks across the northwest of the country.
While it will be windy everywhere, it’s the gusts which can be the most damaging. The intense winds are expected to occur overnight but will continue for a time into Saturday morning, especially in those counties under orange wind warnings. We ask people to be prepared and to secure any loose objects ahead of the storm and to plan their journeys safely if they need to be out on Saturday morning as there could be trees or power lines down.
There will also be heavy rain associated with Storm Darragh which may lead to some localised flooding, along with hazardous travelling conditions.”
Post Darragh:
SAFETY FIRST – HOW TO STAY SAFE IN EXTREME WEATHER
NOTE THAT:
The warnings are likely to be updated. Please keep in touch with Met Éireann’s social media channels, www.met.ie and the Met Éireann app to stay up to date with the forecast and any warnings updates.
The timing and location of extreme weather occurrences can significantly affect their impact. It’s important to note that in any individual weather event, not every location within a warning area may experience the same degree of weather or impacts.
When severe weather is expected, weather and impacts at lower levels are also likely to be experienced. The type and level of impacts can be strongly affected by previous weather conditions. When issuing a warning, Met Éireann takes into consideration the forecasted conditions and thresholds, as well as previous weather conditions that may increase the level of impact expected for particular areas.
WHY AND HOW ARE STORMS NAMED?
Storms are named when they could cause ‘medium’ or ‘high’ impacts in one of the three partner countries. This enables consistent, authoritative messaging to the public and other stakeholders to help them to prepare for and stay safe during potentially severe weather events.
Since 2015, Met Éireann and the UK Met Office have been working together on the naming program and were joined by the Netherlands’ KNMI in 2019, to form the ‘western group’ of European weather services.
When a storm is forecast, the national weather service that expects the biggest impact from the severe weather to hit its region, or is likely to be first affected by it, names the storm. Storm naming happens in conjunction with orange/red weather warnings, which could be for wind, rain or snow, or a combination of these conditions. Those warnings are, in turn, issued based on a combination of numerical thresholds and the potential impacts foreseen.
HOW ARE STORM NAMES CHOSEN?
Met Éireann, the UK Met Office and KNMI publish a new list of storm names for each Storm Season, which commences on 1st September.
This 2024/25 season, each of the three meteorological services contributed seven names to the season’s list. Met Éireann’s contributions to this year’s list were taken from more than 500 suggestions by primary school children participating in ESB Science Blast last February.
The full 2024/25 list is Ashley, Bert, Conall, Darragh, Éowyn, Floris, Gerben, Hugo, Izzy, James, Kayleigh, Lewis, Mavis, Naoise, Otje, Poppy, Rafi, Sayuri, Tilly, Vivienne, Wren, with Met Éireann contributing the names for C, D, H, I, N, P and V (names chosen by Met Éireann in bold).
(Note – letters Q, U, X, Y, Z are not included, in line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming convention.)
PAST STORM SEASONS OVERVIEW
For more information on storm names and past storms, Storm Centre and Major Weather Events.
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