Ireland weather: Met Eireann updates rainfall warnings ahead of miserable Saturday

Orange and Yellow weather warnings are set to come into effect throughout various counties over the weekend

Met Eireann has updated its weather warnings for this coming weekend as parts of Ireland are set to be battered by rain for an extended period of time.

While Cork and Kerry initially fell under a Status Orange rain warning, along with a Status Yellow warning being issued for a number of counties, the national forecaster has since provided an update.

Now, the Status Orange rain warning for Cork and Kerry has been extended by an additional hour, meaning this will be valid from midnight tonight for a full 24 hours. Waterford is also facing a Status Orange rainfall warning, which will be valid from noon on Saturday for 12 hours.

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Meanwhile, the counties of Clare, Limerick, Galway and Mayo will fall under a Status Yellow rain warning from midnight tonight for a full 24 hours, with heavy and persistent rain expected.

The worst-affected counties are being warned of the potential risks of river and coastal flooding, dangerous travelling conditions and travel disruption.

A spokesperson for Met Eireann said this afternoon: "The meteorological situation described yesterday (below) is still valid, with a band of rain expected to trail over the country from Friday night (4th October) through to Saturday night (5th October), with the heaviest and most persistent rain forecast over the southwest and west of the country, particularly over counties Kerry and Cork.

"The low pressure system will be slow moving and updates from our models this morning have led to a revision of the warnings issued yesterday. The orange rainfall warnings for Kerry and Cork have been extended for an additional hour to midnight on Saturday (valid from 00:00 Saturday 5th to 00:00 Sunday 6th). Waterford has also been elevated to an orange rainfall warning, valid from 12:00 Saturday to 00:00 Sunday. This is due to a combination of factors: heavy rainfall in mountainous regions, soil conditions which have not recovered from last weekend’s rainfall and the heaviest of the rain coinciding with high tide. All this coupled with fresh to strong onshore winds which will exacerbate river levels.

"Accumulations of 30-50 mm over 24h are likely in the counties under yellow warning, however rainfall amounts may be higher on windward slopes of the mountains in west Galway and west Mayo. Parts of Cork, Kerry and Waterford will see totals of 50-70 mm over a 24h period, but similarly, higher accumulations can be expected in mountainous regions of west Kerry and west Cork."

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