A status yellow rain warning has been issued for Ireland on Thursday, with Storm Austen set to spread eastward across the country.
Met Éireann has warned of difficult travelling conditions and localised flooding. It said outdoor activities could be severely impacted.
The warning comes into effect from 7pm on Thursday and will remain in place until 8am on Friday.
Another status yellow warning has been issued for counties Dublin and Wicklow on Wednesday. The national forecaster had said this would bring a spell of heavy rain with the potential for difficult travel conditions and localised flooding. This warning is valid from 1am until 8am.
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Storm Austen is the first named storm of the 2026/2027 season.
Aoife Kealy, deputy head of forecasts at Met Éireann, said Storm Austen will develop in the Atlantic Ocean.
“It’s getting help basically from a strong jet stream. So it’s deepening as it approaches western Europe and the UK.
“As it passes to the south of us, it’s going to bring that strong or the heavy rain and potentially some strong winds.”
She said the strongest winds will be felt in the UK. Warnings could potentially be updated on Wednesday or Thursday as the track of the storm becomes clearer.
Kealy said “even small differences in exactly how the low pressure will track are going to make a big difference to where the worst of the weather is on Thursday night and Friday”.
“It’s hard to pinpoint any one area just at the moment” where conditions may be worse.
“There’s potential for heavy rain right across the country and potential for strong winds as well. The winds look likely to be in the south, the strongest of the winds, closest to the low [pressure].
“But we could see those strong winds everywhere and as I said, we’re generally going to see a very wet night and even a wet start to Friday.
She advised people to stay up to date with the latest information from Met Éireann.
The name Austen was chosen by Met Éireann in tribute to Austen H Nagle, who became the first director of the Irish Meteorological Service when he was appointed in 1936.
