Met Éireann extends orange weather warning to entire country
Ellen O'Donoghue
Met Éireann has extended an orange weather warning to the entire country.
It comes as Storm Bram makes landfall, bringing very strong to gale force southerly winds with severe gusts.
The track of the storm means forecasters have put in place rolling orange wind warnings throughout the day.
#StormBram will bring very windy or stormy conditions to Ireland today.
Southerly winds, veering westerly through the day, will be very strong to gale force, with some damaging gusts also expected⚠️
Persistent & heavy rain at first will gradually clear to scattered showers☔️ pic.twitter.com/eKw5gUeeiR— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) December 9, 2025
Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford are under the orange wind warning until 3pm.
Cavan, Monaghan, Clare, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, and all of Connacht will be under an orange wind warning from 11am until 7pm.
Co Donegal will be under the weather warning from 2pm until 9pm.
The entire country has been under a yellow wind warning from 6am, and will be until 9pm.
Impacts of the storm will likely include flooding of low-lying coastal areas, especially during high tide, wave overtopping, difficult travel conditions, debris and loose objects being displaced, power outages and impacts on outdoor events.
A status yellow rain warning has been in place since 9pm on Monday in Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Cork, Kerry, Tipperary and Waterford. That warning is due to expire at 9am.
After a week of persistent rain, Met Éireann has said soils across the country are already highly saturated and many rivers are approaching bank-full conditions, so any additional rainfall is likely to result in surface and river flooding.
Keith Leonard, national director for Fire and Emergency Management, told RTE radio he expects a “significant impact” on power, particularly across south-western coastal areas.
The storm has already resulted in some travel disruption with Emerald Airlines has “preemptively” cancelled a number of flights from its Tuesday schedule, according to Dublin Airport.
The airport said other airlines have indicated “that they continue to monitor the situation”.
Thus far, 42 flights into and out of Dublin Airport have been cancelled.
Two Aer Lingus flights were cancelled at Shannon so far this morning.
Aer Lingus has also cancelled two flights at Cork Airport, one inbound and one outbound to London.
Met Éireann forecaster Gerry Kelly said it was a day to be “very, very careful”.
He told RTÉ's Morning Ireland: “It is going to be a very windy day everywhere, and there is certainly a possibility for all areas to reach those levels for a time.”
He particularly highlighted a risk of coastal flooding in the south of the country during high tide on Tuesday morning.
In Northern Ireland, the UK Met Office has issued a yellow wind warning for the entire region between 9am and 10pm.
A more severe amber warning for wind is in place for the western part of Northern Ireland, applying to counties Antrim, Fermanagh, Derry, and Tyrone between 2pm and 7pm.
The poor weather has resulted in the closure of the Belfast Christmas Market on Tuesday.
Organisers said: “We recognise this may be disappointing, however the safety of our visitors and traders is of the utmost importance.
“At the moment the plan is to reopen on Wednesday December 10, however this is weather dependent.”
The Met Office advised the public to expect delays to transport services and further warned that cancellations are possible.
It added that there was a chance of injuries and danger to life from flying debris, as well as damage to buildings and power outages.
Forecasters said gusts of around 50-60 mph are possible fairly widely across the region, and potentially in excess of 70mph for some exposed headlands and areas of high ground.
Additional reporting: PA
