Storm Eunice: Schools and colleges close ahead of severe weather

Hundreds of schools and colleges will close today across nine counties as the country braces itself for flooding, power cuts and blizzard-like conditions in the wake of Storm Eunice.

The storm is due to track across the country from the early hours of Friday morning with damaging gusts in excess of 130km/h expected, according to Met Éireann.

Schools, colleges and pre-schools in counties with red wind warnings – Cork, Kerry, Clare and Waterford – and those with orange snow warnings – Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal and Roscommon – will close on Friday.

The Department of Education said remote teaching and learning should commence “where possible”.

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Closures do not apply to counties with orange wind warnings, such as Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and others, where educational facilities are permitted to open, subject to local conditions.

Met Éireann warned of severe and damaging winds across most of the country with coastal flooding likely at high tide – between 6am-7am – along with power outages and fallen trees.

Storm Eunice is also set to bring treacherous conditions to the north-west due to a combination of heavy sleet, snow and strong winds.

Status red wind warnings will come into effect at 3am until 8am on Friday. People in these counties are advised to stay indoors due to the potential threat to life and hazardous driving conditions.

A 12-hour orange snow warning will come into effect at 3am for Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo and Roscommon with heavy sleet and snow forecast.

A separate orange wind warning has been put in place for Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Offaly, Tipperary, Wexford and Wicklow from 3am until 11am on Friday.

A status yellow wind, rain and snow warning will be in place for the rest of the country, from 1am until 3pm.

Evelyn Cusack, Met Éireann's head of forecasting, said the impact of the storm will be felt from just after midnight.

"It's going to be a powerful storm zipping across Ireland, giving very strong winds absolutely everywhere. It will be a short-lived affair, but really very serious conditions countrywide," she said.