Met Éireann to shake up its weather warning system

Met Éireann has admitted it may be issuing too many weather warnings and is looking at raising the threshold for doing so.

The forecaster currently puts status yellow, orange and red warnings in place depending on the severity of expected weather.

Eoin Sherlock, Met Éireann’s chief forecaster, said the thresholds for weather warnings are reviewed every 30 years or so, especially with the climate changing. He admitted there are “too many yellow warnings” and that it was working on a way “to minimise them”.

Mr Sherlock said the yellow warning wind speed threshold would be increased from 70km/h to 75km/h.

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Met Éireann is also reviewing the threshold for issuing yellow warnings for cold weather at night. He said that issuing yellow weather warnings for temperatures of minus 2 to minus 3 and orange warnings for minus 3 or 4 without precipitation is “slightly excessive” as “they are just cold frosty nights”.

It is planned to roll out a revised weather warning system in the coming months.

Speaking at the launch of the State’s ‘Be Winter Ready’ campaign, Mr Sherlock denied that Met Éireann accepted that “warning fatigue” may be setting in with some members of the public.

Warnings are issued by Met Éireann based on thresholds, he said, adding that it is ultimately up to the public to obey them. A yellow warning might be important to a painter-decorator working outside, but “to everybody else it’s a soft day”.

Mr Sherlock says the long-term forecast indicates that the unsettled weather will continue well into the future with three named storms having been recorded since the start of September.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin told the briefing that weather warnings are important, and heeded, in Cork because of the persistent threat of flooding.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport Jack Chambers said the Government would be trialing hail warnings on the M7 and M18 motorways during the winter. Research from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has shown that hail can have a “profound impact” on road conditions quite quickly.