The entire country is bracing itself for Storm Jorge with the western coast likely to be hardest hit with gusts of 145km forecast.
Met Eireann forecaster Evelyn Cusack said: “Winds will be violent storm force 11 off our coasts.”
A Status Red wind warning will be in place from lunchtime today for counties Galway and Clare.
AStatus Orange wind warning – the second highest alert –was issued for Galway, Mayo, Clare and Kerry from 6am today until 3am tomorrow. It is upgraded to red for Galway and Clare from 1pm to 4pm.
An Orange wind alert comes into effect in Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo from noon today until 3am tomorrow.
A Status Yellow wind warning is in place today from 9am for all of Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Roscommon, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford.
A Yellow rainfall alert remains in place for Munster, Connacht and Donegal until tonight.
It’s the first alert at this level since deadly Storm Ophelia in 2017.
Hail, snow and thunderstorms will also form part of a potentially lethal cocktail.
Storm Jorge, named by the Spanish weather service, will hit as landowners and householders in the Shannon basin are already battling to protect homes from floods.
River levels are 1.6m higher than normal in some parts with thousands of acres of farmland under water.
Residents in other low-lying areas are also bracing themselves.
The country’s island communities along the entire Atlantic coast were already under a Status Red alert yesterday.
But Met Eireann extended its highest warning to Galway and Clare after studying high resolution satellite images yesterday afternoon.
Even before Jorge makes landfall in the south-west and west from 6am today it’s already been the wettest February in 170 years in some areas.
Ms Cusack warned places that escaped lightly during previous storms will be hit on this occasion.
ESB crews are on emergency standby for areas hit by power cuts, with parts of the Midlands among locations likely to be affected.
Falling trees will pose a deadly threat and an ESB spokesman said: “As they topple they will bring down power lines.”
The storm is expected to be so severe the Army and local authority teams may have to suspend flood relief operations.
The National Emergency Coordination Committee convened yesterday and will also meet today and tomorrow when the full extent of the damage becomes clearer.
