Forecasters have issued a series of strong wind warnings for Tuesday and named the approaching weather system Storm Ali.

Met Éireann has upgraded a previous alert to status orange for counties Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Meath, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare and Kerry. This higher level applies from 5am to 1pm, when south to southwest winds veering westerly will have mean speeds of 65km/h and 80 km/h with gusts between 110km/h and 120km/h for a time in some areas.

In Northern Ireland, the Met Office has issued a similar amber alert from 8am to 5pm. Gusts are expected to reach 65mph to 75mph inland. This may cause injury or danger to life from flying debris, damage to buildings and disruption to travel and power supply.

All-Ireland yellow warning

Met Éireann and the Met Office also have status yellow warnings in place for the entire country all day on Wednesday. In the Republic, the alert applies from 5am to 5pm across the country as south to southwest winds are forecast to reach mean speeds of 50lm/h to 65km/h with gusts of 90km/h to 110km/h.

In Northern Ireland, the status yellow warning applies from 6am to 10pm. Gusts of 50mph to 60mph are possible inland, forecasters said.

Met Éireann has described the next few days' weather, following the passage of ex-tropical storm Helene, as "an assembly line of low-pressure systems swinging close to our shores, bringing strong winds and heavy rain at times".

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