Campers warned to 'stay in their tents' during strong winds at Indiependence
Niall Devlin, Kyle Coady, and Laura Bermingham with Laura O'Leary, Naoise Slattery, Lillie May Cullen-Dunne, Ella Rossiter, and Cormac Collins atIndiependence, Mitchesltown, Co Cork.
Pictures: Larry Cummins
Campers at Indiependence music festival in Cork have been warned to "stay in their tents where possible" this morning during strong winds.
Festivalgoers have also been advised to "ensure their tents are secure" as the wind is expected to "last for another couple of hours at least."
Festival organisers posted the warning on their Instagram story earlier this morning.
The whole province of Munster, along with counties Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford are currently under a status yellow wind warning.
The warning is in place until 1pm this afternoon and according to Met Éireann, "very strong northwest to north winds with gusts of up to 110km/hr" are predicted.
There is a risk of falling branches, damage to temporary structures and difficult travelling conditions.
However, despite the weather warnings for both Cork and Waterford, thousands of people still danced the night away at both Indiependence and All Together Now.
Those who had opted to head to Deer Farm in Mitchelstown were wowed by main stage headliners The Coronas and the rapidly-rising Belters Only being backed up by Jazzy — the woman responsible for the hit of the summer 'Giving Me' — Erica Cody, King Kong Company, and of course, the festival’s legendary Beer Hall.
Not to be outdone, the likes of Jessie Ware, Sorcha Richardson, Lankum, Annie Mac, and the Honeypot DJs kept those who opted for Curraghmore Estate in Waterford entertained.
That will have been enough to distract festival attendees from the updates that Met Éireann chimed in with at midday on Friday.
They were both in relation to high winds — gusts of up to 110 km/h being forecast overnight.
Not that you would have realised as thousands flooded in through the gates in Mitchelstown and Curraghmore, with the sun breaking through early on in the afternoon and sticking around for a while.
Indiependence had tried to warn attendees on Friday evening, posting to their Instagram story shortly after 6pm saying “some rain is expected this evening”, perhaps underselling it a bit.
However, towards the end of the evening, the weather took a turn for the worse — with rainy conditions sweeping across the island and causing havoc for any unstable tents, bringing with it some wicked winds.
Anyone who managed to make it through the night without ending up soaked can count their blessings, but they are not out of the woods yet.
The forecast for Munster warns that rain will continue until around 1pm, at which point there’ll be sunshine for a few hours (so make sure to race up to the food trucks or even into the local town to see what you can grab for lunch!) Enjoy it while it lasts, because around 6pm, the skies will turn grey once more and rain will fall, albeit not as heavy as Friday evening’s monsoon.
Met Éireann’s latest prediction warns that Saturday will remain blustery in the morning, especially across southern and eastern parts of the country early on with strong winds in parts.
It continues: “Heavy rain will linger in the east early on, although this will clear by midday with scattered showers and sunny intervals following countrywide. Fresh and gusty northwesterly winds will gradually ease light to moderate by the evening.”
The rain and windy weather will not dampen temperatures too much, with highs of between 14 and 18C once the major showers clear.
Sunday will bring a mix of sunshine and showers, according to Met Éireann, with temperatures of 16 to 20C. It will be mostly dry on Sunday night, but cloud is forecast to thicken in Munster with patchy rain and drizzle developing towards dawn.
Just when you think it’s all done and dusted, the rain will return with heavy showers on Monday, though at the moment it is believed it won’t be too heavy until the evening, giving campers who are attempting to pack up what is left of their tents plenty of time to depart the campsites.
Check out the Irish Examiner's WEATHER CENTRE for regularly updated short and long range forecasts wherever you are.
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