A status yellow rain warning has been issued by Met Éireann for the entire country on St Stephen’s night, while Kerry and West Cork have been given orange rainfall warnings with “heavy rain” expected tonight and “intense heavy showers” tomorrow.
The forecaster is predicting heavy rain across the country overnight on Tuesday, followed by heavy showers on Wednesday that may lead to localised flooding.
There will also be strong southerly winds overnight, veering southwesterly on Wednesday. Coinciding with spring tides, the high winds may lead to coastal flooding. The weather system has been named Storm Gerrit by the UK Met Office.
The warnings are in place from 8pm this evening until midnight on Wednesday.
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Before Christmas, the forecaster warned of “thundery and blustery rain” in Cork, Kerry, Clare, Waterford, Galway, and Wexford.
Nationally, St Stephen’s Day will be “cool and crisp to begin, with low winter sunshine”, Met Éireann said.
The weather will be dry across most areas for daylight hours with light southeast breezes.
Sunshine will gradually turn hazier, however, with rain arriving into Munster during the afternoon. Wet and rather breezy weather will slowly extend to remaining areas in the evening.
Some surface water is expected across counties Kerry and Cork, with the highest temperatures between four and eight degrees, Met Éireann said.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) advised road users to exercise caution during Storm Gerrit. It said surface water flooding on the roads was possible across the country, while it was likely in Munster due to the heavy rainfall.
Scattered showers and strong winds are expected for a time on Thursday morning.
Showers will be most frequent in the west and north with sunny spells farther east, Met Éireann said, with the highest temperatures ranging between five and 10 degrees with moderate to fresh southwesterly winds, strong at the coasts.
Thursday night will see showers and some clear spells, and the lowest temperatures of two to six degrees in light to moderate southwesterly winds.
The weather will “remain largely unsettled into the new year”, Met Éireann said.
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