Storm season is almost upon us, leaving thousands of homes and businesses up and down the country fearful of what the weather will bring over the autumn and winter months.
Those households and businesses will not be encouraged by this week’s warnings from the Climate Change Advisory Council that plans to escalate the response to extreme weather events such as Storm Éowyn – the storm that swept over the country in January – have not been finalised.
This does not augur well, particularly with Met Éireann already issuing weather warnings for the first named storm of the season, Storm Amy, for Thursday and Friday.
The council, the independent body that advises the Government on preparing for climate change, criticised the delay, saying that Storm Éowyn and its immediate predecessor, Storm Darragh, which hit in December 2024, exposed “significant shortcomings” in how the State managed the impact of the storm.
[ Met Éireann issues wind and rain warnings as Storm Amy approachesOpens in new window ]
It also expressed disappointment that an across-Government review of the Storm Éowyn response was overdue, saying that preparations were needed urgently before another storm of Éowyn’s magnitude hits Ireland.
The record-breaking winds of that storm left 768,000 premises without power and 200,000 without water.
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