ORANGE ALERT for Kildare as Storm Debi set to hit

A Status Orange Weather Warning has been issued for Kildare and 15 other counties as Storm Debi hurtles towards Ireland.

The warning is valid from 2am tomorrow morning (Monday) until 12pm.

Possible impacts, according to Met Éireann, include damages to exposed and vulnerable structures, dangerous travelling conditions, disruption to services and damage to power lines.

A separate Status Yellow Wind and Rain Warning is in place for all of Ireland from 12am on Monday morning until 3pm on Monday afternoon.

According to Alan O'Reilly of Carlow Weather, 'that low system for tonight and tomorrow morning is now looking very nasty with latest weather models showing it bringing very strong gusts early Monday morning along with very heavy rain'. 

"Over 30mm of rain and gusts of over 100kmh possible as this storm develops rapidly as it moves into Ireland," he added.

"The weather models are struggling to handle it but the latest high resolution ensembles have increased the risk of damaging winds significantly! The strongest of the winds are currently showing between 5am and 10am Monday."