It is going to get very windy later today as a potent low-pressure system – dubbed Barney – comes to play at the party. Don’t be fooled by the friendly name, winds over land will be unusually gusty during the afternoon and evening rush, so our advice would be to not make any unnecessary trips.
At 12 UTC today Barney lies off our west coast with a strong pressure gradient to its south. This will bring mean winds over land of 60-80 kph, with gusts of up to 120 kph, unusually strong for inland locations. There will be a sharp increase in winds with height, so elevated areas will receive even stronger mean winds.
By 1800 UTC the centre lies off to the northeast and the strongest winds are in the east and on the Irish Sea. It will have brought an intense 12-hr period across the country, with strong winds starting in at about 10 am in the southwest and finally clearing the east coast by about 10 pm.
Always knew Barney was really a nasty fella!! 😉