The strongest gust of 168km/h was recorded at Malin Head, Co Donegal, early yesterday morning while wind speeds of more than 100km/h were recorded at Belmullet, Co Mayo, and Dublin airport, Met Éireann said.
Forecaster Siobhán Ryan said the “hurricane force” wind speed recorded at Malin Head was “exceptional” and ranked among the highest winds in Ireland that she could remember.
Ms Ryan said the gusts may have been caused by a “sting jet” – a rarely occurring surge of high-momentum, high-energy air which appears like a curling scorpion’s tail on weather maps.
The strong winds were expected to ease last night with the depression which brought them moving on towards Scotland and Scandinavia.
However, Ms Ryan said wind speeds were expected to pick up again this afternoon – but not to the same extent as yesterday – for about 18 hours and could reach speeds of 90-120km/h in some areas.
She said the east coast and Dublin were likely to “bear the brunt” of the west and northwest winds today. These would be sustained but would not be as strong as those experienced yesterday.
East coast could be hit by worst of gales today (Irish Times)