A number of parks in the west and south of the country will be closed tomorrow as Storm Atiyah approaches Ireland.
A Status Orange Wind warning comes into effect tomorrow at 1pm for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick and will remain in place until 6am on Monday.
Met Éireann said Storm Atiyah will track between Iceland and Ireland generating gusts of up to 130km/h or possibly higher in exposed coastal areas.
A Status Yellow Rainfall warning for Donegal came into effect at 6pm this evening and will remain in place until 6pm tomorrow with accumulations of up to 40mm expected.
There is also a Status Orange Marine warning in place warning of gale force winds on all Irish coastal waters.
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There is also a Status Yellow Wind warning in place until 1pm tomorrow with gusts of between 90 to 110km/h expected in places this evening, overnight and tomorrow.
Met Éireann has issued a Status Yellow wind warning for Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Roscommon, Tipperary and Waterford from 1pm tomorrow until 6am on Monday with gusts of up to 110km/h likely.
The UK Met Office said that strong winds are expected for western parts of Northern Ireland.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service said eight national parks and reserves will be closed tomorrow due to the forecasted storm conditions.
#StormAtiya may result in some customers losing supply. Please take note of your MPRN number - for more information on MPRN and how to find it click here https://t.co/8BPPMmizYI pic.twitter.com/eTzMGYaDOg
— ESB Networks (@ESBNetworks) December 7, 2019
Met Éireann forecaster Gerry Murphy said Storm Atiyah is going to bring very strong winds across the country through tomorrow.
He said while it will be a windy day from the start, the strongest of the winds will peak in the west of the country during the afternoon, evening and early night.
"It will be very strong and very gusty in the evening as it will come from a northwesterly direction. Further to the east, those winds will become strongest through the evening and then right the way through the night," said Mr Murphy.
Storm Atiyah (Ah-tee-ya) is forecast to track between Iceland and Ireland during Sunday producing strong winds and heavy rain from Saturday evening through to Monday morning.
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) December 7, 2019
The parks which will be closed are: Connemara National Park; Knockma Wood, near Tuam, Co Galway; Derryclare Nature Reserve, Co Galway; Wild Nephin, Ballycroy National Park, Co Mayo; Old Head Nature Reserve, Co Mayo; Laughil Wood, near Pontoon, Co Mayo; Dromore Woods Nature Reserve, Co Clare and
Killarney House and Gardens, Co Kerry.
Dublin Zoo has also said that its Wild Lights event scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled.
ESB Networks said it is on standby to respond to any damage to the supply network arising from Storm Atiyah.
The Road Safety Authority is asking road users to exercise caution while using the roads over the weekend.
