Galway City Council has closed car parks, made sandbags available, and opened emergency homeless shelters ahead of Storm Éowyn on Friday.
A Status Red weather warning for Galway will be in place from 3am to 11am on Friday, with winds gusting up to 130km/h forecast.
The storm poses a severe danger to life and people are advised to shelter indoors for the duration of the red weather warning.
COPE Galway will be operating an extension of the Cold Weather Response on behalf of Galway City Council from 9:00pm Thursday 23 January and into Friday 24 January, subject to the red weather warning continuing.
Should anyone encounter a person rough sleeping at night the COPE Galway night team can be reached on (085) 287 8876.
The freephone number is also in operation from 7pm until 11pm each night on 1800 788 887.
During day-time hours, COPE Galway Day Centre team can be contacted on (091) 525 259.
The city council council has also closed the car parks at:
- Ballyloughane (local access only)
- Silverstrand
- Tofts Car Park, Salthill
- Salthill Prom car park
Sandbags are also available to collect at the Spanish Arch, the fire station on Fr. Griffin Road, and at Seapoint beside the Aquarium in Salthill.
All public transport will be suspended during the red weather warnings, and schools will be closed nationwide on Friday.
Transport operators will make an assessment on when services can resume when the red warnings are lifted.
