Saturday's freak weather at Clonee, Co Meath, could have been caused by a tornado, Met Éireann said yesterday. The sharp cold front which moved across the country on Saturday morning provided possible conditions for tornadoes.
However, most of the very strong but short-lived winds that most parts experienced were not caused by this phenomenon.
Ms Sarah O'Reilly, a meteorologist with Met Éireann, said a very acute cold front, stretching in a north-south direction, started on the west coast at 10 a.m. and passed over the east at around 1 p.m. The front was associated with dark clouds, heavy rain, hail and very strong gusts - the highest was 85m.p.h. at Dublin Airport.
According to Ms O'Reilly, the front, with high wind speeds and large amounts of air rising up and then rushing down, could have created the vortex conditions for a tornado.
While not very common, they can occur in Ireland, but are usually small and localised.