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19th October 2017
09:01am BST
Met Eireann has predicted that Storm Brian is to develop into a "weather bomb" in the next 24 hours.
While the official term is explosive cyclogenesis, this term is also known as ‘bombs’ and violent winds can develop around the storm system.
According to Met UK, a 'weather bomb' is an unofficial term for a low pressure system whose central pressure falls 24 millibars in 24 hours in a process known as explosive cyclogenesis. Rapid acceleration of air caused by the jet stream high up in the atmosphere can remove air from the column, reducing its weight so causing pressure to fall at sea level.
This in turn sucks in air which converges from surrounding regions resulting in faster and faster rotation of the circulation, in the same way that ice skaters spin faster by drawing their arms in. The resulting winds peak over a period of a few hours and can be strong enough to bring down trees and cause structural damage.
Met Eireann has currently issued two weather warnings, with a status yellow warning for the whole country of the potential for mean wind speeds of 50 to 60km/h and gusts of 90 to 110km/h, especially in coastal counties.
There's also a rainfall warning for Munster, Dublin, Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Louth, Wexford, Wicklow and Meath.
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