With the weather set to turn thundery today extra care’s needed on all roads.
Met Éireann has issued a warning for thunder and downpours, which takes effect from 12noon in Carlow, Kilkenny and across Leinster, along with Cavan, Monaghan, and Donegal.
Alan O’Reilly from Carlow Weather says it’ll continue throughout the day:
“That stays in place until 8pm with a risk of very heavy showers and thundery downpours. So that gives a risk of spot flooding.
“It’s mainly in the east of the country, but also the north and some of the inner inland areas of Leinster.”
It comes at the end of a tragic week on Irish roads, which included the deaths of a young couple and their baby near Ballinasloe.
Roads Policing Inspector for Carlow/Kilkenny Paul Donohoe says there’s one clear message that could help prevent more lives being lost:
“We really just need to try and get the message out to all in Carlow and Kilkenny to really pay attention on the road and to reduce their speed – especially now with this heavy rain.
“It’s so important to just reduce your speed. You’ll get there – there won’t be any real difference in the length of time, but just reducing the speed reduces the chance of serious accidents on the road and fatalities.
“And that’s what our main message in the counties is; to ask people to slow down and especially on the motorways as well.”
Inspector Donohue says that today’s expected bad weather brings a range of potential issues:
“When we get these thunderstorm warnings then we’re looking at high winds on all our roads throughout the country.
“With the high winds we could get branches falling off trees and things blowing out on the roads.
“With the big, wide open roads, heavy winds could see vehicles blown around and you’re fighting against the wind. Reducing the speed helps with that in a big way.
“Met Éireann are giving us these warnings for a reason – they’re doing it for safety reasons.
“We need to just think about that warning and reduce everything and be more aware and more vigilant on the roads.”
