Weather warning: Met Éireann issues wind alert for six counties

A status yellow wind warning has been issued for the counties of Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal from 3am on Saturday morning.

Strong westerly winds with large coastal waves are expected in the six affected counties and the warning will last until 6pm on Sunday night.

The Met Éireann warning stated that there will be “sustained strong and gusty westerly winds veering northwesterly coupled with large coastal waves”.

They list potential impacts as “wave overtopping and/or spray, difficult travelling conditions especially near the coast and some fallen trees”.

These counties also experienced the brunt of Storm Darragh which brought down power lines across the country. Many places did not have power restored until last weekend, a full week after the storm hit.

The UK Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning for Antrim, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry from 7am on Saturday until midnight on Sunday.

It has warned a period of strong winds on Saturday is likely to lead to some transport disruption.

Saturday night is likely to be cold in the northern half of the country with rain, sleet or snow expected on higher ground in parts of Ulster. Temperatures will fall as low as 2 degrees in worst-affected areas.

Windy conditions will be experienced across the country during the weekend but it will turn mild again from Sunday night, and there is no chance of a white Christmas.

Christmas day is expected to be one of the mildest on record with temperatures of 12 degrees, seven degrees above the seasonal norm for the time of year.

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