'There have been too many': Met Éireann to issue fewer status yellow weather warnings

'We are cognisant of the fact that there have been too many yellow warnings'

Wed, 18 Oct, 2023 - 15:43

Tadgh McNally, Political Reporter

Met Éireann will be issuing fewer status yellow weather warnings in future, with the forecaster set to re-evaluate the thresholds for such warnings.

Speaking on Wednesday, Met Éireann Head of Forecasting Eoin Sherlock said the forecaster has heard concerns about “warning fatigue” from the public.

It comes as Cork has seen severe flooding due to Storm Babet. A status orange rain warning had been in place for the county up to 1pm.

“I've heard the term warning fatigue so I suppose from Met Éireann’s perspective, we issue warnings based on thresholds. We have looked at them, so maybe for the yellow warnings, we’re going to change the thresholds for the windspeeds to be a bit higher,” Mr Sherlock said.

“Perhaps for a low temperature, they won’t be as prevalent as they are now.”

In particular, Mr Sherlock highlighted that some workers, like a painter-decorator, require warnings to know whether or not they will be able to work.

“If you're a painter-decorator, a yellow warning means you might not be able to do work that day, so it's important for them. For the rest of the population, it’s a soft day.

“We are cognisant of the fact that there have been too many yellow warnings, that’s what we’re working on,” he added, saying that Met Éireann wants to minimise the number of yellow warnings.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that for people in Cork, weather warnings are “very important” due to flooding that occurs in the city.

“Flooding has been a feature in the inner city, of the quays if there’s a high tide and if there are high winds.

“I think Cork people actually do appreciate an early warning because the devastation can be enormous. We’re still awaiting the flood scheme to try and get implemented but for businesses and so on like that, people do plan accordingly: Get out of town earlier, because the flooding can be very serious.”

Storm Babet: Cork towns 'impassable' with €6m funding sought for damage repairs