Donegal County Council approves Met Éireann Pettigo weather radar tower

Donegal County Council has granted conditional planning permission for Met Éireann to construct a 30-metre-high weather radar tower northeast of Pettigo, as part of a wider Irish Weather Network Modernisation Project. 

The proposed radar tower is to be located on a site around Lough Fad Bog, located off the R232 between Pettigo and Laghey, and would be 30 metres high and of eight metres in diameter. 

A section of forestry will be felled to facilitate the new weather radar tower, which will have a technical equipment room, a radome located at the top, and an equipment room located at the base.

Donegal County Council granted planning permission for the proposals with 13 conditions.

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SCA Planning & Development Consultants, writing on behalf of Met Éireann within the application, said: “The proposed radar forms part of a wider Irish Weather Network Modernisation Project and the location in Donegal has been identified as one of the five strategic locations suitable for the development of a weather radar as part of the modernised network across Ireland.”

Other locations listed as part of the Irish Weather Network Modernisation Project include Cork, Kilkenny, Roscommon, and Meath.

According to SCA Planning, “This weather radar network expansion project is an essential step in Met Éireann’s efforts to continuously provide improved services to Irish society.

Weather radars are fundamental and necessary when formulating a national response to changing weather patterns and high-impact weather events, such as responding to the new challenges of climate change, as stated in the Programme for Government.

“The current radar network, which consists of two weather radars, located at Dublin and Shannon airports, does not provide the level of coverage sufficient to meet current and future needs.”