Electric Picnic washout fears as ex tropical Storm Fernand bears down on Ireland

Campers at Electric Picnic could be in for a wild and windy night on Friday as the remnants of an ex tropical storm makes its presence felt in Ireland.

80,000 people will descend on Stradbally in Co Laois from Friday to Monday this weekend with acts like Hozier, Kings of Leon, Fatboy Slim and Sam Fender on the bill this year.

Much like of one of Kings of Leon's song, it could be a supersoaker on the weather front as well with strong winds and rain on the horizon on Saturday night, according to Cathal Nolan of Ireland's Weather Channel.

Cathal says a low pressure system arriving in Ireland on Friday night "has the potential to bring with it some unseasonably strong winds and also accompanying that some very heavy folds of rainfall."

He added: "Out in the Atlantic at the moment, we have the remnants of ex-tropical storm Fernand and it is expected to make its way gradually northeastwards across the Atlantic where it's going to encounter another trough pushing southeastwards coming out of Canada.

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"The interaction between these two systems is going to be very important in terms of its development and in terms of the weather conditions that we see on Friday night and Saturday in particular.

"So as these two systems collide, they are expected to form into one more organised area of low pressure. But with that the energy that's contained within both systems is expected to merge and as it crosses the jet stream it is expected to deepen considerably."

Cathal went on to explain: "We expect the low pressure system to track across parts of North Connacht and into parts of Ulster with the worst of the winds expected to be on the south side of that system. Now, each one of the models has a very different outcome in terms of the impacts.

"Some models show wind speeds up to 120 km/h. Other models show wind speeds between about 90 to 100 km/h. In either scenario, both of these bring winds that are strong enough at this time of the year, given the amount of leaves that we have in the trees, that there could be some disruption from that particular system.

"On top of that, we do have to factor in some very heavy rainfall. Some of the models at the moment are indicating that we could see rainfall totals from this system of up to perhaps 60-70 millimeters in some locations, even higher over higher ground.

"Now, these models at the moment, they're not high resolution models as they start to materialise over the next couple of days. We'll see those figures probably increase a little bit. So, there is the potential for some localised flooding through Friday night into Saturday in particular.

"Of course, this is very important for anybody attending Electric Picnic in Stradbally. Wind speeds of up to 80-90 km/h inland have the power to cause some concern for anybody camping overnight at these particular events or just anybody camping in general trying to take in the last couple of days of summer.

"So, it's something to be aware of. It's not something to be overly concerned about right now. We will keep you posted here on Ireland's Weather Channel. We'll take you through the latest forecasts over the course of the next couple of days and we'll make sure that we get you an accurate forecast at the moment. This is simply something to be aware of. It's not exactly a forecast warning. It's more so just a storm watch essentially."

Meanwhile, Met Éireann says Friday night will be clear and dry for most with just isolated showers, although they predict rain will move into southern and western counties overnight. Lowest temperatures of 10 to 13 degrees in moderate southerly breezes.

Their forecast continues to predict "a rather wet and windy start to Saturday as that band of rain continues to spread across the country. Heavy downpours are most likely in the south, west, and northwest with the possibility of spot flooding.

"Throughout the afternoon, scattered showers will develop as that rain clears with brighter spells developing by the evening. Highest temperatures of 15 to 19 degrees in moderate to fresh southerly winds, gusty at times on Atlantic coasts."

For Sunday, they say "sunny spells and scattered showers will move across the country throughout the day, turning heavy at times over parts of Ulster and Connacht. Highest temperatures of 15 to 18 degrees in moderate to fresh southwesterly winds, gusty at times near coasts."