Two Atlantic storms on the way

The first named storm of the season, Ali, is expected to reach Ireland on Wednesday, followed by an even stronger storm, Bronagh, on Thursday night.

The remnants of hurricane Helene will hit the country tonight, Monday, bringing a considerable amount of wind and rain, particularly to the eastern half of the country in counties Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow.

While this storm has been downgraded, some spells of heavy rain throughout the night will make for  difficult driving conditions in places.

Tuesday will see the best of this week's weather, with sunshine and showers forecast.

Wednesday, however, will see the development of storm Ali, which at the time of going to press, Met Éireann had issued a yellow warning for.

This is expected to be upgraded to an orange weather warning according to Cathal Nolan of the Midlands Weather Channel.

“On Wednesday afternoon, we could see 100-110kph in the north midlands, and up to 120kph in the western and northwestern part of the country,” Cathal tells the Westmeath Examiner.

“This could have an affect on the National Ploughing Championships,” he says.

And while Thursday will start out a reasonably dry day, with passing blustery showers, early on Thursday night the development of storm Bronagh will occur.

“Storm Bronagh will deepen rapidly, bringing winds to coastal areas in the west of between 130-140kph, while in the midlands you could see gusts of 110-120kph.

“The next 36 hours are critical to the development of this storm, and we will be better able to tell it's intensity and track by then.

“Both storms have the potential to cause disruption, especially considering the national ploughing championships occur on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week,” he finished.