Two status orange weather warnings are in operation this afternoon.
A rain alert is in place for Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow until midnight, while a thunderstorm warning is operating in Dublin, Kildare, Louth and Meath until 5pm.
Level: Orange
Type: Thunderstorm
Further thunderstorms with intense lightning strikes with some disruption.(Also see rainfall warnings)
Affected Regions: Dublin Kildare Louth Meath and Wicklowhttps://t.co/Xg3aMJm6kq pic.twitter.com/w05Zb6dcwb
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) October 19, 2022
Met Eireann is forecasting very heavy rain and intense lightning strikes in these areas.
A status yellow rainfall warning is operating in 13 counties until tonight.
An animation showing the lightning strikes from this morning up to present. You can see the strikes in the Irish Sea that resulted in the offshore wind turbine being struck and then moved into Eastern areas and also the strikes moving up from the South at present. pic.twitter.com/hs0xIo1WA6
— Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) October 19, 2022
There's smoke coming from a wind turbine in the Irish Sea.
There are unconfirmed reports it may have been hit by lightning strikes off the coast of Dublin and Wicklow.
My dad just took this photo from our house in Co. Wicklow - apparently lightning struck a wind turbine off the coast and now it's on fire. 😲 pic.twitter.com/XbpsBL2RRs
— Amy Kinsella (@Amy_M_Kinsella) October 19, 2022
The offshore wind farm is managed by GE Renewables.
In a statement, GE Renewables said, "“An offshore wind turbine event has been reported on October 19th, 2022, at the Arklow Bank Offshore Windfarm located in the Irish Sea.
"There were no injuries.
"The Coast Guard has been notified.
"Once weather conditions permit and we can access the site safely, we will start working to determine the root cause of this event.”
