Storm Amy – the first named storm of the season – is sweeping in from the Atlantic, with schools in Northern Ireland closing early and ferry sailings from the west of Scotland being cancelled
People in parts of the UK will be advised to “shelter in place” between 4pm and 6pm today due to Storm Amy.
The warning has come as the storm hits large parts of the UK and Ireland. The national director of Ireland’s emergency management unit, Keith Leonard, has said he expects Met Eireann to issue a red level weather warning for the county for that period.
Speaking on RTE’s News at One, he issued a warning to people living in Donegal, Northern Ireland. Mr Leonard said: “If I had one key message, it would be for that period from 4pm to 6pm in Donegal this afternoon, to ask people to shelter in place for that amount of time and to be very careful on the roads before that warning comes into place and after it’s gone through.” Mr Leonard said the storm will also feature “a lot of rainfall” and that fallen trees are likely to be an issue.
Yellow weather warnings are in place for much of Scotland and Northern Ireland, with Storm Amy also due to bring high winds and rain to the rest of the UK into the weekend.
As the first named storm of the season sweeps in from the Atlantic, schools in Northern Ireland have closed early and ferry sailings from the west of Scotland have been cancelled.
Heavy rain and strong winds of up to 100mph are expected in exposed coastal areas on Friday. A yellow weather warning for rain covers western Scotland and Northern Ireland from noon.
The wet and windy conditions are expected to spread south later in the day, with all of the UK including southern England covered by yellow warnings for Saturday.