Ireland braces for damage and flooding as storm Lorenzo nears

The Irish Meteorological Service warned on Thursday of coastal flooding and damage as tropical storm Lorenzo approached the country from the Atlantic with winds of up 130 km per hour. Met Eireann's head of forecasting Evelyn Cusack said the combination of low pressure, high wind speeds, and exceptionally long and high waves will lead to dangerous conditions on the west and south-west coasts.

"We are likely to have gale force 8 to storm force 10 winds, and violent storm-force 11 winds for a time on Thursday evening," she said. "It will be a short event. As it tracks across Ireland, Lorenzo will lose intensity rapidly." The storm is expected to move across the country on Thursday evening and into Friday morning, moving northwest to southeast across the country, with counties Mayo, Galway, Clare, Limerick, and Kerry worst affected.

Met Eireann said its M6 Atlantic Buoy, which is located around 400 kms west of Ireland, indicated waves of around 12.5 meters earlier on Thursday, although conditions on the coast when the storm arrives will depend on local coastal topography.

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