Red forest fire warning issued with Western areas at particular risk

Galway Bay fm newsroom - A red forest fire warning is currently in place across Ireland, with western areas at particular risk.

The alert will remain in place until midday tomorrow.

It comes as a ‘Type A’ high pressure system associated with extreme fire risk potential is currently located East of Scotland and is inducing moderate to fresh Easterly airflows over Ireland.

The Department of Agriculture says projected Initial Spread Index values are also in the very high range in Western areas.

Based on recent fire incidents, it's understood most ignition risks appear to be associated with deliberate ignitions on areas where active turf cutting or illegal waste dumping is taking place.