Environment

Weather warning issued over powerful northwesterly winds

Cold North Atlantic air means temperatures will be lower than average this week

A line of parked boats on a parking lot of the Killyleagh Boat club last week, following a major incident in Strangford Lough, County Down, Northern Ireland, when more than 80 sailing dinghies were hit by a sudden squall during an international boating event. Photograph: PA
A line of parked boats on a parking lot of the Killyleagh Boat club last week, following a major incident in Strangford Lough, County Down, Northern Ireland, when more than 80 sailing dinghies were hit by a sudden squall during an international boating event. Photograph: PA
Mon Aug 18 2014 - 09:24

A weather warning is in place for small boats on waters along all Irish coasts due to powerful northwesterly winds, according to Met Éireann.

The yellow warning (the lowest of the three warning categories) says wind speeds will reach force six for a period of time this morning.

These winds have brought a sudden end to summer with temperatures today, and for the remainder of the week, approximately 3 degrees below the average for this time of year.

An image from Met Éireann at 9am showing areas of rainfall over the country.
An image from Met Éireann at 9am showing areas of rainfall over the country.

While it will be a bright, fresh, breezy day, with sunny spells and scattered showers, temperatures will be between 14 to 18 degrees.

READ MORE

Temperatures for August generally average between 17 and 21 degrees.

According to Met Eireann the northwesterly direction of the wind is bringing colder air from the North Atlantic over the country.

The current cold snap is expected to last for most of this week before temperatures rise again over the weekend.

However, unfortunately, the warm settled weather that marked much of July and early August is unlikely to return this month.