A new campaign has be launched in replacement
Image via Met ÉireannThere's nothing we love more here in Ireland than chatting about the weather but from now we'll be chatting less about weather warnings - specifically yellow weather warnings.
Met Éireann says it'll be issuing fewer yellow weather warnings as a result of "warning fatigue" among the public.
The forecaster and the Government today launched the 'Be Winter Ready' campaign, with this year's focus on road safety.
It includes an appeal for motorists to drive based on the conditions rather than speed limits.
Met Eireann's Head of Forecasting, Eoin Sherlock, says they will continue to issue warnings promptly, but acknowledged some changes may be needed:
"I've heard the term 'warning fatigue', so from Met Éireann's perspective we issue warnings based on thresholds, so we have looked at them so maybe for the yellow warnings we're going to change the thresholds so the wind speeds will be a bit higher or perhaps for low temperatures it won't be as prevalent as they are now."
He continued, "But I suppose it is important to note that there is the public warnings that go out. If you're a painter/decorator, a yellow warning means you may not be able to do your work that day. It's important for them, but the rest of the population, it's a soft day."
We're currently being battered by Storm Babet, with the south coast being worst hit.
A status yellow raining will run until this evening in every county - except Kerry.
Torrential rain has seen cork experience a months rainfall in 24 hours.
The Defence Forces have been deployed to East Cork due to the severity of the flooding in the region.
#CorkFloods Midleton town is currently flooded. Please avoid the area if at all possible. pic.twitter.com/MYrlwCmwB1
— Cork Safety Alerts (@CorkSafetyAlert) October 18, 2023
