Stormy weather conditions expected over coming five days

Met. Èireann is forecasting potentially unsettled and stormy weather between Saturday and Wednesday next.

Meteorologist Liz Walsh explained: "After a period of quieter more slowly evolving weather earlier this month, our weather pattern is looking decidedly more generally changeable and at times very unsettled through the rest of October.  

"As is often the case, this is largely in response to a strengthening of the Polar Front Jet Stream. 

"The Jet Stream is identified as a zone of fast moving air high up in the atmosphere and it is responsible for driving and developing low pressure systems across the Atlantic towards our shores.

"The strengthening of the Jet Stream is not unusual at this time of year as the temperature gradient between the tropics and the poles increases in response to the shorter daylight hours as we head into the winter months. 

"The greater the difference in temperature, the stronger the Jet Stream becomes. 

"Over the coming week, the Jet Stream is expected to help deepen areas of low pressure and direct them generally between Ireland and Iceland. 

"Associated Atlantic frontal systems will cross the country resulting in successive spells of wet and windy, potentially stormy, weather, especially this weekend and on into early next week.

"On Friday, an Atlantic low pressure system is expected to engage with the Jet Stream and rapidly deepen. The low itself is expected to track between Iceland and Ireland but the associated active frontal system will cross the country on Friday night and Saturday morning resulting in a period of very strong winds and heavy rain.

"The next Atlantic low pressure system that will affect Ireland after Saturday, will be early next week and that low pressure system will likely contain the remnants of Epsilon, currently a category 1 Hurricane which is expected to curve northeastwards to the east of Bermuda this weekend."

Ms. Walsh said in one of Met. Èireann's meteorologist commentaries last month it mentioned that: 'The delayed warming of the Atlantic Ocean forces the location of extra-tropical transitioning storms northward late in the season so here in Ireland, we are more likely to see the remnants of these storms influencing our weather over the coming weeks and months.'

"Now looking at the current set-up in the Atlantic right now, we can see that situation appears to be developing," added Ms. Walsh.