Evelyn in a mini-storm by predicting Doris would be a tame gal

TV weatherwoman Evelyn Cusack has kicked up a mini-storm by grossly underestimating this week's Storm Doris.

She assured listeners to Mayo based Midwest Radio on Wednesday: “In simple terms, in terms of weather, just expect a fairly wet and windy night tonight and tomorrow morning.”

As it happened, Doris turned out to be less than a tame damsel as Evelyn suggested.

By 3 a.m. on Thursday morning - some 14 hours after Evelyn went on air predicting a “run of the mill” weather event - 'Doris' was baring her wicked fangs right across Ireland.

Winds of up to Storm Force 12 pummelled the west and north west with one gust of 133 km/h recorded at Mace Head on the Connemara coastline.

Roads and rail lines were blocked by fallen trees and up to 56,000 homes were left without electricity.

“It seems Evelyn had a Michael Fish moment,' Michael Kilcoyne, a member of Mayo County Council, who listened to Wednesday's broadcast, said today.

Councillor Kilcoyne was alluding to BBC weather forecaster Michael Fish who, as a hurricane aproached Britain in October 1987, confidently assured TV viewers: “There's no hurricane coming but it may be windy in Spain.”

As it happened the UK was battered by one of the worst hurricanes in record resulting in the loss of 18 lives.

Councillor Kilcoyne commented: “Evelyn's forecast wasn't quite in the same league as Michael Fish's in terms of getting it wrong but she did err a little in terms how severe the winds were.

“Usually it's the other way around with forecasters signalling weather events which never turn out to be as severe as they are predicted to be.”