AN IRISH county is bracing itself for an Atlantic tidal surge expected to flood a number of its popular towns.
As Storm Brian approaches, emergency sandbags are being sent to the coast of Co. Cork to avoid further destruction to property after Ophelia’s battering last weekend.
The low-lying towns of Bantry, Clonakilty, Youghal and Midleton are expected to be worst hit as the tidal surge arrives at the same time as high tides at around 6pm this evening.
Coastal Safety Update pic.twitter.com/ekESeMWRMu
— Cork County Council (@Corkcoco) 19 October 2017
Cork County Council has asked people to avoid these areas and exercise extreme caution in relation to trees and structures that may have been affected by Ophelia.
Landowners are also being asked to check trees on their property, which could pose a risk to roads.
Met Éireann, Ireland’s national weather service, has also issued an orange status wind warning along the coasts of Mayo, Galway, Clare, Kerry, Cork, Waterford and Wexford.
Gusts of up to 130 km/h are expected. The rest of the country is on a status yellow wind warning.
Storm Brian will bring heavy rain and wind with a risk of thunder tonight as the eye of the storm passes over the country.
#StormBrian has been named by @MetEireann as the second storm of the season, bringing strong winds to Ireland and the UK on Saturday pic.twitter.com/r2zxzqeSrL
— Met Office (@metoffice) 19 October 2017
Meteorologist Gerry Murphy said that although Storm Brian will not be as severe as Ophelia, it will make for a very windy day in Ireland tomorrow.
“This is a typical Atlantic storm,” he said. “There will be strong winds along the south coast but they won’t be anywhere as strong as they were a few days ago.
“As the storm depression moves through, we’ll see the winds swinging round to a north west direction and to the west Munster coast as we go through Saturday morning, and up along the west coast as we go through Saturday afternoon.
"Those are the areas we’re going to see the strongest winds.”
