Named storms and Ireland's wind records
How storms get their names, the records set by Storm Éowyn, the great storms of the past, and what each strength of wind does.
Since 2015 the storms that hit Ireland and Britain have had names. Met Éireann, the UK Met Office and the Dutch weather service KNMI choose a list each year from public suggestions, running through the alphabet from September to August and skipping Q, U, X, Y and Z. A storm is named when an orange or red wind warning is likely in one of the three countries, and whichever service names it first, the others use the same name. Ex-hurricanes keep the name they were given in the Atlantic, which is why Ophelia in 2017 was never Storm Brian.
The records
The strongest winds ever measured in Ireland came with Storm Éowyn in the early hours of 24 January 2025. At Mace Head on the Connemara coast the gusts reached 184 km/h at about five in the morning, and the mean wind, averaged over ten minutes, hit 142 km/h, according to Met Éireann's checked figures. Both broke records that had stood since a storm at Foynes in County Limerick in 1945. Met Éireann issued a red wind warning for every county, the Met Office did the same for Northern Ireland, and at the height of the storm 768,000 ESB customers were without power, with more than 800,000 across the island. Some rural areas waited more than two weeks for reconnection.
Ophelia, the remains of a hurricane, crossed the south on 16 October 2017 with a gust of 191 km/h on the mast at Fastnet Rock and brought the first nationwide red warning; three people died. Storm Darwin on 12 February 2014 flattened forests across the south and west. Further back, Hurricane Debbie on 16 September 1961 was the benchmark storm for a generation, and the Night of the Big Wind, 6 January 1839, wrecked thousands of homes across the country and remains the storm of folk memory. All the records are on the records page.
What each strength of wind does
| Beaufort | Mean wind | On land |
|---|---|---|
| Force 4, moderate breeze | 20 to 28 km/h | Dust and paper lift; small branches move. Fine for most things outdoors. |
| Force 5, fresh breeze | 29 to 38 km/h | Small trees sway. Hard work on a bike or a paddleboard; white horses at sea. |
| Force 6, strong breeze | 39 to 49 km/h | Large branches move, umbrellas turn inside out. Gale warnings for the coast. |
| Force 7, near gale | 50 to 61 km/h | Whole trees sway; walking into it is an effort. A yellow wind warning. |
| Force 8, gale | 62 to 74 km/h | Twigs break off; cars wander on the road. An orange warning. |
| Force 9, strong gale | 75 to 88 km/h | Slates and chimney pots come off. A red warning. |
| Force 10, storm | 89 to 102 km/h | Trees uprooted, buildings damaged. Rare inland, a few times a decade on the coast. |
| Force 11 and 12 | 103 km/h and above | Widespread damage. Éowyn's mean wind at Mace Head was Force 12. |
The scale is for the mean wind; gusts are typically 30 to 50 percent stronger, and they do the damage. A gust of 110 km/h breaks branches and loose tiles; 130 km/h brings down trees and roofs; Éowyn's 183 km/h flattened plantations. The warnings guide gives the figures behind each warning colour.
When and where
The storm season runs from October to March, with the worst weather usually in December, January and February when the jet stream is strongest. The west and north-west coasts take the brunt: Malin Head in Donegal records gale-force winds on 66 days a year, and the Atlantic coast from Kerry to Donegal has the highest mean winds in the country. The east is sheltered by distance and by the mountains, so a storm that is red in Galway is often yellow in Dublin. Inland the wind drops, but a plantation forest or a line of mature trees can fall in a Force 9 that the coast would shrug off.
Before a storm
- Bring in or tie down anything that can blow: bins, trampolines, garden furniture, loose tiles and gates.
- Park away from trees and walls. Charge phones and power banks, fill a flask, and know where the torch is.
- Do not travel during a red warning, and do not go to the coast to watch the waves: a wave that has run up a pier can carry a person off it.
- After the storm, treat every fallen cable as live and give fallen trees on roads a wide berth, because a second tree often follows the first.
The forecast map shows the forecast wind and gusts hour by hour across the country, and the warnings for every county appear there as soon as they are issued.