Low pressure system to keep weather unsettled

THERE IS not much good news for anyone who thinks yesterday's smattering of sunshine means they can put away the wellies and …

THERE IS not much good news for anyone who thinks yesterday's smattering of sunshine means they can put away the wellies and waterproofs, with forecasts for further heavy rain across the country.

Met Éireann predicts further unsettled weather, with heavy showers and windy conditions over the weekend and into early next week. Today will be unsettled with some heavy rain early, particularly in the midlands and east, according to Met Éireann meteorologist Deirdre Lowe.

"During the morning, the rain will clear away into the Irish Sea, probably clearing the east coast early in the afternoon. After that there will be sunshine and still some showers developing," she said.

It will be a blustery day, but temperatures will be as high as 19 to 21 degrees.

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Tomorrow will enjoy some bright sunshine and good temperatures but with heavy showers at times, particularly over Ulster and Connacht, Ms Lowe said.

It will also be very windy.Showers will die away towards tomorrow evening.

Monday morning "doesn't look too bad", according to Ms Lowe. "But it looks like it will turn wet and windy later on Monday night."

There is no better weather forecast for Tuesday either, with a very showery day in prospect.

"There's low pressure over the country, so there could be some thundery and very heavy downpours. Then, beyond that, it still looks unsettled and it looks like it will get a bit fresher after that," Ms Lowe said.

Meanwhile, Shannon airport yesterday showed no after-effects of the record rainfall that caused flash flooding on Wednesday.

The airport experienced the highest recorded rainfall in one hour since records began.

A total of 38.4mm (more than an inch and a half) fell between 5pm and 6pm on Wednesday - almost half the average total for the month of August. Met Éireann said the deluge was a once-in-125 years event.

Shannon airport spokesman Eugene Pratt said there were no signs of flooding even though travellers at one point on Wednesday were wading through water on roads outside the airport.

In Limerick, the local authority expected to finish remedial repair work yesterday on the quay wall in Newcastle West after last week's severe flooding.

Workers had to abandon the repair work on Wednesday for safety reasons due to more heavy rain.

The Irish Water Safety Association, meanwhile, warned that anyone planning to take part in water-based activities such as kayaking, surfing or angling should be aware of the impact of recent heavy rainfall on water levels.