A woman struggles against the wind during Storm DylanRollingnews.ie
Only two days into 2018 Ireland is already being battered by bad weather as Storm Eleanor makes its way across the country.
Met Éireann have issued an amber warning for the country after warning that “damaging gusts” of wind could reach up to 80mph.
⚡ Storm Eleanor is going to hit the UK and Ireland hard on Tuesday https://t.co/1Vijkmc0b4 18:00hrs https://t.co/UCPpKSMPC5 Surface Wind pic.twitter.com/J57K7BJNrh
— #ActOnClimate (@1o5CleanEnergy) January 2, 2018
Yesterday the forecaster issued a statement:
"Wind Warning for Dublin, Carlow, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Wicklow, Offaly, Westmeath, Meath, South Galway, Clare, Limerick and Tipperary.
"Storm Eleanor will quickly move across the country tomorrow evening and tomorrow night.
"West to southwest winds of mean speeds 65 to 80 km/h, gusting to 110 to 130 km/h (80 m/h), with damaging gusts are expected.”
#StormEleanor has officially been named by @MetEireann. Eleanor will track across parts of Ireland Tuesday Evening but will then bring strong winds across parts of the UK through into Wednesday pic.twitter.com/m8zYKu1YDd
— Met Office (@metoffice) January 1, 2018
Locals on the west coast had been warned that the swell could mean certain properties are at risk of flooding and drivers have been told to factor in longer journey times.
Walkers have been advised to take particular care in areas exposed to the sea after a woman in England was swept away into the Atlantic by an especially large wave - she's currently in hospital "in intensive care".
Ferry services to and from the Isle of Man have been cancelled.
Read More: Irish dark humor’s time to shine on “Bank Holiday Ophelia”
Despite this, Eleanor is set to be a much less damaging storm than Ophelia, which hit Ireland in October. Then wind speed reached 115mph, there was an estimated $70 million worth of damage across Ireland and Great Britain and three people died as a result of the storm.