Storm Lorenzo is to carve a corridor of destruction along the entire west coast.
Destructive storm force winds, torrential rain, thunder and lightning and guaranteed power cuts will hit Ireland from Thursday night.
But we should be on guard for Storm Lorenzo as early as 9am on Thursday morning.
It’s the western coastal counties who are in the eye of the storm and will fare worst, according to Met Eireann chief Eveylyn Cusack.
“We have a Status Orange issued for Galway, Mayo, Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick,” she said at a briefing by the National Emergency Coordination Group.
But there is also a Status Yellow for the rest of the country - and there’s no guarantee that the most dangerous conditions will be confined to the West.
Last year Storm Opelia suddenly veered away from Dublin and the east coast at the last moment.” Storms like this can be unpredictable,” Ms Cusack said.
Lorenzo is still a Category 1 hurricane but will transition to a storm as it approaches Ireland and western Europe from the south west. The Azores are being lashed by winds of 140kph.
But even though Lorenzo will be a storm when it reaches us it will bring violent Storm force 11 gales.
Met Eireann will continue to monitor the storm. Weather chiefs say that based on the information currently available they have issued.
A Status Orange Wind warning for Galway, Mayo, Clare Cork Kerry and Limerick from 6pm tomorrow evening until 3am Friday morning.
A Status Yellow Wind warning for the other 20 counties in the republic from 6pm Thursday until 3am Friday.
A 24 hour Status Yellow Rain warning will be in force nationwide from 9am tomorrow until 9am Friday.
Evelyn Cusack said it was possible that conditions along some exposed coasts could reach Status Red conditions.
Status Red means rare and very dangerous weather conditions from intense meteorological phenomena.
