Storm Boelo brings 65-75mph gusts to Northern Ireland

By Daniel Okafor

A Yellow wind warning for Northern Ireland runs from 6:00 p.m. Saturday to 3:00 p.m. Sunday. Widespread gusts of 50-60mph are forecast across Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Derry and Tyrone, with 65-75mph possible in exposed regions.

The UK Met Office calls Boelo the season’s second storm and expects the deep low to reach Northern Ireland and western Scotland on Saturday afternoon after crossing the Atlantic. The name is pronounced “Boo-loh.”

What will Storm Boelo bring?

The Met Office said an active jet stream—an upper-atmosphere current—would strengthen the system before arrival. Forecasters expect impactful winds from Saturday night through Sunday, with heavy rain accompanying the gusts.

Chris Bulmer, UK Met Office deputy chief forecaster, said: “Storm Boelo will bring strong winds and heavy rain to Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of northern England over the weekend, impacting the opposite end of the country to Storm Austen.”

A separate Yellow wind warning covers Scotland, the Western Isles, Orkney and the far north of England from 6:00 p.m. Saturday to 9:00 p.m. Sunday. It forecasts 55-65mph gusts widely and 70-80mph in exposed coastal locations.

For Northern Ireland, exposed sites face a peak gust range 5-15mph higher than the broad 50-60mph forecast. That difference places coastal and high-ground farms in the upper warning band rather than the general one.

The Boelo warning begins at 6:00 p.m., after the forecast Saturday-afternoon arrival, and ends at 3:00 p.m. Sunday. Farm plans should therefore be checked against that Saturday-evening-to-Sunday-afternoon window; the warning does not cover the whole of Saturday.

Bulmer added: “The strong winds will be accompanied by heavy rain, making for an impactful weekend of weather. Severe weather warnings and forecast detail will continue to develop, so people should keep up to date with the forecast over the next few days.”

What happens with Storm Austen?

Storm Austen is a separate low-pressure system, not an extension of Boelo. It is forecast to bring strong wind and heavy rain to southern parts of Ireland and the UK tonight, Thursday, October 22, and Friday. The system is expected to clear into the North Sea by Friday evening.

Meanwhile, Met Éireann has warned of intense rain and strong winds later on Thursday.

• Status Orange rainfall: Cork, Kerry and Waterford face a warning from 10:00 p.m. Thursday to 5:00 a.m. Friday. They will be the first counties affected by the heavy rain.
• Status Orange rainfall: A second warning covers Dublin, Wexford and Wicklow from 2:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m. Friday.
• Status Yellow rain and wind: Munster and Leinster are covered from 7:00 p.m. Thursday through 10:00 a.m. Friday.

The sequence gives farm planners two distinct decision windows: Thursday night and Friday morning for Austen’s rain and wind, followed by Boelo’s arrival on Saturday afternoon and its wind warning from Saturday evening through Sunday.

The update supplies warning times and gust ranges but no rainfall-depth totals. Warning status, exposure and timing are therefore the firm inputs; the information does not support a rainfall-volume comparison between the six counties under Orange warnings.

Which warnings matter most for farm work?

Coastal and high-ground sites sit at the upper end of each wind range, while widely affected counties fall under the lower bands. Storm Austen presents a separate issue for Ireland because two Orange alerts concern rainfall, although the Status Yellow warning for Munster and Leinster covers both rain and wind.

The next firm timing point is Saturday afternoon, when Boelo is due to arrive; Northern Ireland’s warning starts at 6:00 p.m. and ends at 3:00 p.m. Sunday. Farmers should use the intervening updates to reassess exposed-site plans before the warning begins.