Weather warning issued with strong winds forecast

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) is advising all road users to take extreme care when using the roads this weekend as Met Éireann has issued an orange weather alert warning of extreme winds from Saturday afternoon through to early Sunday morning.

South-westerly winds veering West with mean speeds of 65 to 80km/h reaching gusts of 110 km/h and130km/h, in exposed coasts and headlands for a time on Saturday evening and early night. There will be high seas and some high tides and coastal flooding is possible.

The RSA also advises road users to:

Pedestrians should take extra care when crossing the road or cycling in extremely windy conditions as a sudden gust of wind could blow you into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

For advice on severe weather driving tips please see severe weather advice on the RSA website or check out the RSA Facebook and Twitter pages.

Meanwhile, Met Eireann has issued a status orange warning for counties in the Northwest including Leitrim, Donegal, Galway, Mayo and Sligo. This means it will be xtremely windy period from Saturday afternoon through to early Sunday morning.

Southwest veering west winds will reach mean speeds 65 to 80km/h with gusts of 110 km/h., but gusts of up to 130km/h, are likely on exposed coasts and headlands for a time in the evening and early night.

Meanwhile, a status yellow warning remains in place for neighbouring counties with very windy conditions forecast from Saturday afternoon through to late Saturday night. Southwest veering west winds will reach mean speeds 50 to 60 km/h with gusts of over 90km/h., but up to 110km/h. in exposed areas.

Ulster weather for today
27 February 2015- updated at 13:00

Today 

Dry at first but rain will develop in the west and will spread eastwards in the afternoon and evening. Highest temperatures of 6 to 8 degrees with freshening southerly winds.

Tonight

Outbreaks of rain and drizzle early tonight clearing late and becoming mainly dry with a good deal of cloud and some clear spells. There'll be some scattered showers in the west. Lowest temperatures of 4 to 5 degrees.

Tomorrow

Patchy rain or drizzle in the west tomorrow morning will become persistent or heavy in the afternoon and will spread throughout with fresh to strong southerly winds. Winds will become very strong westerly in the late evening as rain clears. Highest temperatures of 7 to 10 degrees.