Parts of Ireland could experience "quite hazardous and dangerous conditions" on Friday due to Storm Eunice, forecasters say.
It's been a windy day for much of Ireland today, as Storm Dudley passes the country.
Winds from that storm are set to die down overnight.
However, there's only expected to be a brief lull before Storm Eunice approaches Ireland.
Met Éireann has already issued a status orange wind warning for seven counties - Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Wexford - for several hours on Friday morning (5am to 11am).
A status yellow rain, wind and snow warning will be in place for the rest of the country from 1am until 3pm on Friday.
#StormEunice may bring challenging and disruptive conditions on Friday due to strong winds, heavy rain and snow.
⚠️Yellow #rain, #wind and #snow warnings are in place.
⚠️Keep an eye on the latest warnings over the coming days 👉🏾 https://t.co/Xg3aMJlyuS pic.twitter.com/8jhUM68kWD— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) February 16, 2022
Emer Flood - meteorologist with Met Eireann - told The Hard Shoulder the weather hasn't been too severe today, but that could change in the next 48 hours.
She said: “Storm Dudley is what we’re experiencing right now… there are quite strong winds right across the country, but thankfully those winds aren’t too impactful. Storm Dudley will be clearing away tonight, so that will give a brief lull before tomorrow.
“The orange level warning… is for Storm Eunice, which will be moving in later on Thursday night.
"It will bring some quite potentially hazardous and dangerous conditions to much of the country on Friday morning.
“Those winds will be picking up quite early on Friday morning… they will be strongest in those [seven] counties, where the winds will be up to 100km/h gusts and potentially even higher in exposed coastal locations.”
While the seven counties under the orange warning are expected to see the most significant impact, strong gusts are also being forecast for other parts of the country.
Meanwhile, the rain and snow warning means some areas that avoid the strongest winds may see disruption caused by snow.
Ms Flood said: “At the moment, it’s looking like the most impactful snow accumulations will be in northern parts of Connaught and western parts of Ulster.”
While the worst of Storm Eunice's weather is expected to pass by Friday afternoon, Ms Flood said it's likely the weather will remain "pretty unsettled" over the weekend.
