PEOPLE ACROSS Ireland are being warned to batten down the hatches ahead of the miserable weekend of weather across the Emerald Isle.
Met Eireann is forecasting wet and windy conditions ahead of the arrival of Storm Hannah.
Six counties have already been issued with orange weather warnings while a further 14 are on Status Yellow alert.
Munster is set to be among the worst hit regions, with every county now issued a Status Orange wind warning as the storm approaches.
Friday is set to be bring gale force winds to large parts of Ireland, including gusts of wind ranging up to 130km/h on Friday night.
Southern counties like Tipperary and Waterford, meanwhile have had their yellow warnings upgraded to orange, with these warnings set to stay in place from 10pm on Friday to 2am on Saturday.
Met Eireann said: "In addition to the yellow wind alert for these counties: Southwest winds veering northwest will reach mean speed of 65 to 80km/h and gusts of 110 to 120km/h for a time tonight."
Cork, Clare, Kerry and Limerick are also set to experience adverse conditions with an orange wind alert issues for the period from Friday at 4pm to Saturday at 5am.
A Met Eireann spokesperson said: "Becoming stormy on Friday evening and overnight as Storm Hannah moves in.
"Southerly winds, later veering north-westerly will reach mean speeds of 65-80 km/h with gusts of 110 to 130 km/h."
Mostly cloudy with outbreaks of rain today but some dry periods also. Winds will increase over southern and western parts of the country from late afternoon, with severe and damaging gusts developing in the southwest of the country as Storm Hannah approaches. Highs of 8 to 12 C. pic.twitter.com/N2EZtCs7st
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) April 26, 2019
Connacht, Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Wexford, Wicklow, Offaly and Donegal have been issued with a Status Yellow wind warning, with gusts of up to 110km/h expected.
West Munster, meanwhile, will experience the worst of the severe winds overnight.
Otherwise, Friday will remain damp and cloudy throughout with temperatures somewhere between 8C and 12C.
"Damp and mostly cloudy this morning with scattered outbreaks of rain, but some dry periods also,” a Met Eireann spokesperson said.
"A spell of more persistent rain will start to extend from the southwest by this afternoon.
"Winds will increase over southern and western parts of the country from late afternoon, with severe and damaging gusts developing in the southwest of the country as Storm Hannah approaches. Cooler than of late, with highs of 8 to 12 degrees."
An Garda Síochána are urging people to keep road travel to a minimum during storm conditions.
See More: Atlantic Storm, Irish Weather, Met Eireann
