Page last updated Mon 1 Sep 2025

Without Doris, a relatively quiet storm season

There were five named storms during the 2016/17 storm season, which ran from Thursday 1 September 2016 to Thursday 31 August 2017 (inclusive).

In comparison, the 2016/17 storm season was much quieter than the year before, but still featured concentrated bursts of activity. It began later, with Storm Angus in November, which brought gale force winds to Donegal and waves up to 9 m off the north-west coast, but little in the way of heavy rain.

Over the Christmas period, back-to-back storms Barbara and Conor passed in quick succession on 23 and 25 December respectively, bringing damaging gusts in the northwest and remarkable seas. Buoy M4 off Donegal recorded an individual wave of 18.8 m during Barbara, the largest of the season. This was followed by a 16.4 m wave during Conor and gusts up to 117 km/h.

The peak of the season came in late February. Doris was the most intense, with violent storm force winds of 104 km/h sustained at Mace Head and gusts up to 141 km/h, alongside a mean sea level pressure of 975 hPa. Two days later, Ewan crossed the country, less powerful in terms of wind but with 51.9 mm of rain in Longford.

Name
(Named by)
Peak Impact Date		 Highest sustained wind speed (km/h) Highest gust wind speed (km/h) Highest daily rainfall total (mm) Daily air temperatures (°C) Lowest mean sea level pressure (hPa) Highest individual wave (m)
Angus
(Met Office)
Tue 22 Nov 2016 		Gale Force
67 km/h
(36 knots | 41 mph)
Malin Head (coastal), Co Donegal
around 7am		 81 km/h
(44 knots | 51 mph)
Malin Head (coastal), Co Donegal
at 6:23am		 7.1 mm
Newport, Co Mayo		 -2.2°C at Straide, Co Mayo to 10.5°C at Glengarriff (Ilnacullin), Co Cork 993.6 hPa
Johnstown Castle, Co Wexford
around 0am		 8.9 m
Buoy M4 (off Donegal coast)
around 7am
Barbara
(Met Office)
Fri 23 Dec 2016 		Gale Force
83 km/h
(45 knots | 52 mph)
Malin Head (coastal), Co Donegal
around 8am		 111 km/h
(60 knots | 69 mph)
Malin Head (coastal), Co Donegal and Belmullet (coastal), Co Mayo
around 8am		 30.9 mm
Leenane, Co Galway
on Thu 22nd		 -1.3°C at Kilkenny, Co Kilkenny to 14.1°C at 2 stations in Donegal and Kerry 998.6 hPa
Malin Head (coastal), Co Donegal
around 9am		 18.8 m
Buoy M4 (off Donegal coast)
around 5am
on Sat 24th
Conor
(Met Office)
Sun 25 Dec 2016 		Gale Force
81 km/h
(44 knots | 51 mph)
Malin Head (coastal), Co Donegal
around midnight		 117 km/h
(63 knots | 72 mph)
Malin Head (coastal), Co Donegal
at 11:24pm		 23.2 mm
Maam Valley, Co Galway
on Sat 24th		 -0.1°C at Moore Park, Co Cork to 14.7°C at Glasnevin, Co Dublin 1005.3 hPa
Malin Head (coastal), Co Donegal
around 11am		 16.4 m
Buoy M4 (off Donegal coast)
around 8am
on Mon
Doris
(Met Office)
Thu 23 Feb 2017 		Violent Storm
104 km/h
(56 knots | 64 mph)
Mace Head (coastal), Co Galway
around 1am		 141 km/h
(76 knots | 87 mph)
Mace Head (coastal), Co Galway
at 1:39am		 16.8 mm
Clones (Dunseark), Co Monaghan		 1.6°C at 2 stations in Dublin and Meath to 13.9°C at Waterford (Tycor), Co Waterford 975.0 hPa
Ballyhaise, Co Cavan
around 5am		 8.3 m
Buoy M2 (in the Irish Sea)
around 9am
Ewan
(Met Éireann)
Sat 25 Feb 2017 		Gale Force
74 km/h
(40 knots | 46 mph)
Malin Head (coastal), Co Donegal
around 4am		 106 km/h
(57 knots | 66 mph)
Malin Head (coastal), Co Donegal
at 4:13am		 51.9 mm
Granard (Ballymore), Co Longford		 -0.1°C at Knock Airport, Co Mayo to 14.6°C at Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin 984.2 hPa
Malin Head (coastal), Co Donegal
around 1pm
on Sun		 8.5 m
Buoy M5 (off south Wexford coast)
around 5pm
on Sun