Met Éireann have admitted that they sometimes “overdo” their weather warnings for safety reasons.  A spokesperson for the national forecaster has revealed that they prefer to be extra careful when it comes to the weather warnings. “We err on the side of caution,” meteorologist Pat Clarke told Live 95FM. “Sometimes we overdo it. That’s just the way it is. You have to err on the side of caution with these matters. “When you are dealing with life and limb, and when your (weather) models are telling you the winds are going to be a certain value, you’re better off to err on the side of caution, than take the opposite view." “So, based on the information we had last night, we extended the ‘Red’ warning from the North and Northwest further down the west coast to include Munster counties. “And parts of Cork and Kerry did get some red values last night, but Limerick city didn’t." His comments were made in response to hundreds of people who inundated phone lines at local radio stations about the Red alert warning that was given on Wednesday night. According to reports, a number of people across the country woke up somewhat bemused to find 'normal' January weather outside and demanded to know why all western counties had been put on the Red alert warning - which saw the closure of 300 schools. However, although some areas around the country may have escaped rather lightly, elsewhere thousands of homes were affected by Storm Rachel, with over 16,000 people left without electricity. Fallen trees and gale force winds also made driving conditions treacherous and the Red Alert served to remind people to take extra care in those areas today. The storm followed a period of heavy snowfall in many places.