Flood warning as Storm Ciara set to hit the West

STATUS yellow wind and rainfall notices issued by Met Éireann warn of ‘an elevated risk’ of coastal flooding along the Western coastline on Saturday and Sunday.

The flooding risk is increased due to Storm Ciara coinciding with high Spring tides through the weekend that will continue into the early days of next week.

On Sunday morning (4.57am) and Sunday evening (5.26pm), the high tide level for Galway Port will be just over the five-metre mark, peaking through Tuesday and Wednesday when they are due to reach heights of 5.44 metres.

“Over the weekend, the combination of Spring Tides and high seas – as well as stormy conditions – will result in an elevated risk of coastal flooding especially along southern, western and northwestern coasts,” Met Éireann warn.

They also warn of wind gusts touching 110km/h (close on 70mph) through Saturday and Sunday as Storm Ciara tracks to the north of Ireland while rainfall amounts of between 40 and 80mms (1.5 to 3 inches) are predicted over the course of those two days.

“There is a risk of localised flooding this weekend, especially over the western half of the country,” Met Éireann state in their warning.

A spokesperson for Galway City Council said that, as with all weather warnings, they were monitoring the situation very closely.

“A yellow weather warning is in place through Saturday and Sunday and we will be keeping a close eye on the conditions as they develop,” said the spokesperson.

Storm Ciara – named by the UK Met Office – is expected to bring peak speeds to the West coast between 6am on Sunday morning and 6pm that evening. The BBC predict gusts of 73mph (117km/h) around noon on Sunday.

The most intense rainfall period, according to the Norwegian (yr.no) forecast for Galway city, will be between 12 noon on Saturday and 6pm on Sunday when 45mms. (close to two inches) of rain are forecasted.