Turning very windy and wintry on Friday with the risk of damaging winds
The weather is set to turn very unsettled at the end of this week with colder conditions also expected Friday and this weekend with some wintry showers the first of the season expected.
On Friday a developing low pressure system will move down from north of Ireland and the UK with very strong winds on the low pressures western flank as it moves southwards. The lastest signals are for very strong winds with the risk of some severe or damaging gusts especially across northern and eastern half of Ireland as well as Scotland, Northern parts of England and Wales.
The Met Office UK issued a early weather warning on Tuesday ahead of this very unsettled spells of weather for Northern Ireland as well as other parts of the UK.
Met Eireann have also issued a early Status Yellow wind warning for Donegal ahead of this low pressure system were some of the strongest winds will be.
Some of the main and best forecasting models show very stormy conditions on Friday afternoon all they way into Saturday morning with the northwest, north and east of Ireland set to see winds gusting as high as 100km/hr to 120km/hr with some of the forecast models such as the UKMO, GEM & ARPEGE models showing some gusts somewhere in the region of 120km/hr to 150km/hr along northern coastal counites of Donegal, Derry, Antrim & Down.
Winds will be northwesterly to northerly in direction.
On Thursday expect a major ramp in weather warnings been issued and updated by Met Eireann and the Met office UK as the higher resolution models come into that range which will give us a better Idea.
It is highly likely that this storm will be named also on Thursday by either Met Eireann or the Met Office UK with a Orange warning for Donegal and amber warning possible for parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland.
If this is named it will be named Storm Arwen.
A status Yellow wind warning is likely to be issued for the rest of Ireland on Thursday morning and the reason for the warning only been issued for Donegal today was due to the high impact this storm may have on Friday into Saturday morning.
Below you can see some of the winds forecast by the UKMO, GEM & ARPEGE on the charts
A warm sector is also expected to sweep down from the northwest later Thursday night into Friday morning bringing some rain with some heavier burst across the northern half of Ireland but once this moves through much colder air will sweep southwards down across Ireland and it will turn much colder later Friday morning and over the afternoon with blustery showers of hail and sleet to low levels with some snow possible over the hills and mountains.
On Friday evening there may be a dusting of snow over some higher ground areas of the northwest and north of the country as well as the Wicklow mountains and as the freezing level drops later in the afternoon and evening a few wintry falls of snow also could be possible across inland parts of Ulster but not enough to cause problems with winds been the biggest issue.
Colder air sinks southwards over Ireland on Friday afternoon and evening with showers turning wintry
Friday and Saturday will also feel very cold with a added windchill factor of around -6C coldest in the north and east of Ireland.
Make sure you have the hats and scarfs at the ready and the fire lit this weekend
Make sure to stay tuned to the forecast over the coming hours as warnings will be issued Thursday morning for this rather unsettled and possible disruptive period of weather.
Kenneth from the Donegal Weather Channel