Strongest winds to peak in next two hours across the Midlands

Storm Brendan

'Storm Brendan' is making its way across the country with violent gusts of up to 130km/hr.

Here in the Midlands, the strongest of the winds will be experienced between now (10am) and 2pm this afternoon.

According to Ireland's Weather Channel, the Midlands will experience gusts between 120 - 130km/hr.

"Wind speeds such as 120-130km/hr for the centre of the country makes this a considerably dangerous event and I would urge people to take precautions - travel as little as possible and wait for the strongest of the winds to pass," Cathal Nolan told the Westmeath Examiner.

Cathal is also warning of a "second swathe" of high winds which will be making its way across the country, passing over the north Midlands.

"We could see second swathe from 3pm onwards, which will see winds of between 100-110km/hr."

According to his data, Cathal says a strong squall line is developing which will bring intense rainfall accompanying the high winds, bringing with it a risk of thunderstorms to the Midlands.

Currently Met Éireann has a Red marine warning in place off the West coast, and a national Orange warning for the rest of the country.

However, independent forecaster Cathal Nolan has issued a Red level warning for counties along the West coast, including Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, Kerry and Cork.

He has also issued an Orange weather warning for the rest of Ireland.

The worst of the winds should have made their way through the Midlands by 6-7pm this evening.

It will however remain rather windy, between 80-90km/hr, for the rest of the evening and night, with heavy showers pushing in from the Atlantic.

The rest of the week is to remain "unstable", with a another storm system pushing its way up from the south on Tuesday (tomorrow).

While it won't be as windy as today, heavy rain meeting with a colder airmass across the country, will fall briefly as snow on high ground across the Midlands.

"We are entering an extremely unstable weather pattern over the coming days," says Cathal of Ireland's Weather Channel.

"It will bring heavy rain, strong winds, and very unsettled conditions in general."