Statement from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on severe weather - 17 February 2022

A Virtual National Emergency Coordination meeting was held today with Minister Darragh O’Brien and Minister Patrick O’Donovan, Met Éireann, the OPW, the local authorities, the Principal Response Agencies, key departments and responding national organisations in attendance in advance of Storm Eunice, due on 18 February 2022. A further meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, 18 February at 11am.

Status Red - Storm warning for Cork and Kerry

Storm Eunice will track quickly over Ireland tonight and Friday morning bringing severe and damaging winds. Southwest winds veering northwest will reach mean speeds in excess of 80 km/h with gusts in excess of 130 km/h. Some coastal flooding, especially at high tide.

Valid: 03:00 Friday 18/02/2022 to 08:00 Friday 18/02/2022

Status Orange - Wind warning for Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Wexford, Wicklow, Munster and Galway

Storm Eunice will track quickly over Ireland tonight and Friday morning bringing severe and damaging winds for a time. Southwest or cyclonic winds becoming northwest will reach mean speeds of 65-80 km/h with gusts up to 130 km/h. Some coastal flooding, especially at high tide.

Valid: 03:00 Friday 18/02/2022 to 11:00 Friday 18/02/2022

Status Orange - Snow warning for Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo and Roscommon

Storm Eunice will bring heavy sleet and snow leading to blizzard-like conditions in parts with treacherous driving conditions.

Valid: 03:00 Friday 18/02/2022 to 15:00 Friday 18/02/2022

Status Yellow - Wind & Rain & Snow warning for Ireland

Storm Eunice will track over Ireland on Thursday night and on Friday bringing very strong winds and falls of heavy rain, sleet and snow. Some disruption is likely along with a possibility of coastal and spot flooding.

Valid: 01:00 Friday 18/02/2022 to 15:00 Friday 18/02/2022

The current soil conditions and the recent observed rainfall accumulations have increased the overall sensitivity of river levels with more appreciable rainfall forecast. This ELEVATED level will extend to Ulster, Connacht, Munster and parts of Leinster on Friday.

The OPW continues to monitor coastal conditions and has issued a High Tide Advisory Notice for Friday 18 February with critical times at first high waters tomorrow morning. We are entering a period of Spring tides today until Saturday with very windy conditions. The combination of high seas and strong winds or perhaps stormy conditions may increase the possibility of coastal flooding especially along north western and western coasts due to wave transformation. The levels are ELEVATED for today, Thursday, for the West and North West Coasts. On Friday all coastlines are set to HIGH due to the wind direction, timing and location of Storm Eunice. This will be monitored as it evolves.

Local Authorities Severe Weather Assessment Teams and Crisis Management Teams have been meeting since Tuesday. The Communication teams have issued and will continue to issue press releases across all media in relation to the event. Where necessary individual council telephone lines will remain open out of hours. Response crews and Civil Defence are on standby to respond to any events as and when they arise.

The Department of Transport have been in contact with RSA, TII and NTA and all necessary measures are in place. In counties where snow is expected the local authorities are ready to go with snow ploughs and road salt. Bus Éireann and Local Link will not operate in Status Red warning conditions. The Coast Guard have advised the public to ‘Stay Back, Stay High and Stay Dry’ during this period.

The HSE will inform the public of any disruption of service through traditional and social media channels.

ESB are standing up their Emergency Plans in preparation for any impact on the power system. They will communicate all safety messages to the public.

Irish Water have their regional and national incident teams on standby and have been liaising closely with local authorities and the ESB on critical infrastructure.

Protective actions advised:

• heed local authority advice, monitor Met Éireann forecasts for updates

General public safety advice:

• shelter in place for the duration of Red Level warnings
• stay away from all coastal areas for the duration of the Met Éireann warnings
• secure all garden furniture and tented or temporary structures
• necessary travel only in Orange conditions - All road users should be aware of the hazardous traveling conditions. Motorists should slow down and be aware of the dangers of fallen trees, electricity cables and debris. High sided vehicles, cyclists and motorcyclists are particularly vulnerable during this time
• keep mobile phone charged
• it is critical that people never ever touch or approach fallen wires, stay safe and stay clear of fallen or damage electricity wires, and contact ESB Networks on 1800 372999