Storm Betty to bring heavy rain to Mayo this evening

Heavy rain is on the way towards Mayo as Met Eireann say a Status Yellow rain warning will come into effect for the county at 5pm and remain in place until 6am on Saturday morning.

The rain may cause spot flooding in places and wave overtopping on eastern facing coasts. The poor weather conditions will be a result of Storm Betty making landfall in the south of Ireland this evening when gusts of up to 130km/h are expected to batter the south and south west bringing the potential for structural damage, falling trees, travel disruption, power outages and localised flooding. 

A Status Orange warning for rain and wind has been issued for seven counties as Storm Betty is set to hit the south of Ireland this evening. The warning will be in effect from 9pm until 3am tomorrow morning for Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork, Tipperary and Waterford.

Senior Forecaster with Met Éireann Gerry Murphy said there could be power outages and a risk of flooding during the storm.

Speaking on RTÉ's News on One, said: "As the storm depression moves up, the winds will become a more significant feature this evening and tonight.

"We'll see very strong to gale force south easterly winds developing on the south coast this evening.

"Later on tonight the winds will round to a south or south westerly direction and it is at that point that the winds will be most severe.

"Those winds will give some severe gusts with possible power outages, possible falling trees and possible disruption coupled with the risk of flooding from the rainfall and poor visibility.

Betty is the second storm named in August, following Storm Antoni which occurred earlier this month.

This is the second time since storm naming was introduced in 2015 that two storms have been named in August, following Ellen and Francis in August 2020.