Two weather warnings issued for 20 counties as Storm Hannah set to hit Ireland this weekend

Grim.

Following the news that Storm Hannah is set to batter the country this weekend, Met Éireann have issued two weather warnings across 20 counties. A status orange wind warning has been put into place for Cork, Clare, Kerry and Limerick. It will come into effect at 4pm tomorrow and last until 5am on Saturday, April 27. A forecaster warned that people should be "prepared for possible disruption and power outages." They added:

"[The weather will be] becoming stormy on Friday evening and overnight as Storm Hannah moves in. "Southerly winds, later veering northwesterly will reach mean speeds of 65-80 km/h with gusts of 110 to 130 km/h."

Meanwhile, a status yellow wind warning has been issued for 16 counties: Connacht, Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Wexford, Wicklow, Offaly, Donegal, Tipperary and Waterford. It will come into effect at 11pm on Friday and end at 9am on Saturday, April 27. A forecaster said:

"[The weather will be] becoming very windy on Friday night and for a time on Saturday morning. "Southerly winds will veer northwesterly and reach mean speeds of 50-65km/h with gusts of 90 to 110 km/h."

Meteorologist Gerry Murphy appeared on RTÉ Radio One's Morning Ireland on earlier today, where he confirmed that Storm Hannah is on the way. Delivering the forecast, he said:

"Later tomorrow, Friday, a depression which we have named Storm Hannah will move in from the West bringing stormy weather tomorrow evening and night - especially to counties Kerry, Clare and Cork. [It will also bring] very windy weather to the rest of the country overnight tomorrow night as well. "Weather warnings associated with Storm Hannah will be issued this morning."

He added that that the strongest of the winds will be in coastal areas, but "as the depression continues to move through tomorrow night, those very strong northwest winds will extend to all areas." He continued:

"Eventually, through tomorrow night and early Saturday, the winds will ease and the rain will clear away. "For the weekend, there'll be some scattered showers on Saturday and a milder day on Sunday with some rain or drizzle."