Met Éireann have named Storm Betty as a low-pressure system which is also triggering Met Office warnings.
Storm Betty, which will bring higher impacts to the Republic of Ireland, will move from the south of Ireland to the north on Friday and into Saturday. It will bring some impacts to western areas of the UK in particular, with high winds and heavy rain likely for many.
A Met Office yellow warning for wind covers the eastern coastal area of Northern Ireland and is active from 6pm this evening, Friday 18th, to 12pm tomorrow, Saturday 19th August.
Area impacted by Met Office yellow weather warning for wind this weekend.
Very strong and gusty winds, associated with Storm Betty, bringing some disruption to transport, travel and temporary infrastructure. Given the time of year, with trees in full leaf, as well as likely temporary structures such as tents and marquees, some disruption is likely. Impacts on high-sided vehicles and caravans are also likely.
Rain warnings have also been issued from 9pm on Friday evening, to 6am Saturday for Northern Ireland, with heavy rain expected to bring the potential for some disruption.
Area impacted by Met Office yellow weather warning for heavy rain this weekend.
A period of heavy rain is expected to affect much of Northern Ireland from Friday evening through into Saturday. The highest rainfall totals are expected over east-facing high ground of the Mourne Mountains, Antrim Hills and Sperrins where 40-80mm could accumulate, but 15-25mm could fall quite widely within the warning area.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist Jason Kelly said:
“Friday and Saturday will see unseasonably wet and windy conditions for much of the UK. While Storm Betty will have higher impacts in Ireland, exposed Irish Sea coasts of the UK could see gusts in excess of 70mph, with around 50mph more widely.
“Storm Betty is also bringing some large accumulations of rainfall for the time of year, with some spots of Northern Ireland seeing around 80mm of rain, though between 15-25mm is expected more widely.”
Betty is the second storm named by the storm naming group of Met Éireann, the Met Office and KNMI following Storm Antoni earlier in August. This is the second time since storm naming was introduced in 2015 that two storms have been named in August, following Ellen and Francis in August 2020.
People living or working on the coast should take extra care during windy and stormy weather.
Further ahead
Saturday will see the remnants of Storm Betty move north and leave behind some showers in western areas of the UK, though western Scotland will hold on to more persistent rain through the day.
The set up for Sunday and next week is for sunshine and showers to be the main theme of the forecast, with a westerly weather regime for the UK.
Northern and western areas will see the most-frequent showers early next week, whereas further south and east there will be fewer showers and more in the way of sunshine, and it will feel warm here at times too.