Weekend weather: status yellow warnings issued for 18 counties

Ellen O'Donoghue

Several weather warnings have been issued for Sunday, with 12 counties in the Republic to be under status yellow wind and rain warnings.

Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Waterford, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Wexford and Wicklow will be under the warnings from 2am until 3pm on Sunday afternoon.

The counties of Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo will then be under a status yellow wind warning until midnight on Sunday night.

The potential impacts of this include difficult travel conditions, localised flooding, fallen trees and loose debris, and poor visibility.

Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry will also be under a status yellow wind warning for 12 hours from 3am until 3pm on Sunday, which may lead to some disruption.

Meanwhile, on Friday wet and windy weather with occasionally heavy rain and some spot flooding is possible, However, brighter conditions with sunny spells and scattered showers are to extend gradually from the west this afternoon. Strong and gusty southerly winds should ease southwesterly later, and the highest temperatures are expected to be 10 to 13 degrees.

Early tonight, isolated thunderstorms and hail are possible as showers gradually retreat Atlantic coastal counties. It will be mostly dry and clear further east. It is expected to be cooler than previous nights with lowest temperatures of 3 to 7 degrees in a light to moderate southwest breeze.

Saturday is expected to be a bright day with plenty of sunshine on offer and just a few passing showers mainly affecting the west and northwest with highest temperatures of 10 to 12 degrees.

Sunday however, will be wet and windy to begin, with widespread rain. The rain is expected to gradually clear eastwards through the morning and afternoon, but it will remain windy with scattered blustery showers following from the west. Some of these will be heavy with isolated thunderstorms.

Highest temperatures are expected to be 11 to 14 degrees in strong to gale-force southwest winds.

Sunday night will bring clear spells and scattered showers, with showers heaviest and most frequent in the west. Lowest temperatures of 4 to 7 degrees are expected in fresh southwest winds, easing a little overnight.