*Spot flooding in Smithstown Industrial Estate in Shannon. Photograph: Joe Buckley
CO CLARE is under a “severe” Status Orange weather wind warning until Friday night.
Met Éireann have issued the weather warning from 2pm on Friday until 10pm during Storm Amy which is the first named storm of the season.
Clare is one of five counties where the Status Orange wind warning is in place alongside Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo.
Heavy rain is proving more problematic than the wind this Friday afternoon with over 20mm of rain falling on already saturated ground in the county. This is leading to spot flooding across Co Clare.
Coastal locations in Clare are seeing gusts of 110–120 km/h, while gusts of 90–100 km/h are occurring more widely across the county.
Buoy reports show that winds in the Shannon Estuary have hit 120 km/h during lunch time on Friday.
Power outages are expected to increase later this afternoon and into the early evening as winds peak. Winds will gradually ease on Friday night but remain fresh to strong from the north-northwest through Saturday morning and early afternoon. Thus far, Corofin and Scariff are areas where outages have been reported.
All Doolin Ferry sailings have been cancelled for Friday and Saturday due to Storm Amy. Normal service resumes on Sunday.
The National Directorate for Fire & Emergency Management (NDFEM) said local response teams are preparing for “challenging conditions” in affected counties, with Met Éireann forecasting damaging gusts, fallen trees, power outages and difficult travel.
ESB Networks said it is bracing for damage to electricity infrastructure, particularly in counties under a Status Orange wind warning, with crews and contractors mobilised across the country. The public has been urged to prepare for possible power outages by keeping phones charged and having torches and batteries to hand.
Among the sporting fixtures affected by Storm Amy is the U17B gaelic football semi-final between Doonbeg and Clooney/Quin scheduled to take place in Miltown Malbay on Friday evening.
Two games in the Munster U17 Cup second round scheduled for Saturday afternoon have been called off. Bridge Utd vs Avenue Utd has been postponed until October 11th with Tulla Utd vs Newmarket Celtic now pushed back to October 8th.
Mark Dunphy of weatheire.com stated, “Saturday is expected to be largely dry, with only a few scattered showers. It will remain very breezy however”. Live updates are available on weatheire’s blog.
