Wet but mild weather forecast for first week of September

Wet, unsettled weather is expected to hit the country from Tuesday evening but temperatures will remain mild throughout the first week of September.

Met Éireann has forecast outbreaks of rain in the west and northwest of the country late on Tuesday which will spread eastwards through the night. The rain will become persistent overnight with some very heavy bursts, especially in the northern half of the country, with a risk of spot flooding,

On Wednesday, the heavy rain will continue in the east but conditions will become drier in western counties. This dry weather will extend eastwards through the morning with most rain due to have cleared by lunchtime. The wet weather will return to the northwest during the afternoon and evening, with highest temperatures ranging between 17 to 21 degrees Celsius.

Temperatures will drop slightly to between 17 and 18 degrees on Thursday with continued showers and some sunny spells. Friday and Saturday will also see sunny spells and showers, with most of the wet weather in the west, according to the forecaster.

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The latest indicators suggest a ridge of high pressure will build on Sunday bringing mainly dry weather, said Met Éireann.

There are currently no weather warnings in place but Met Éireann did issue a small craft marine warning at 5am on Tuesday with southerly winds occasionally reaching force 6 or higher.

A series of weather warnings were issued in August when Storm Francis and Storm Ellen hit the country leaving nearly 200,000 homes and businesses without power. The storms also resulted in flooding in many parts with Co Cork particularly badly hit.

Met Éireann said at the time that the arrival of storms in August was unusual but not unprecedented, noting that Hurricane Charlie hit the country at the same time of year in 1986.

Storm Aiden will be the first storm to blow across Ireland and the UK this winter, according to the latest list of storm names announced by Met Éireann, the UK Met Office and the Dutch national weather forecasting service on Tuesday.

Bella, Gavin, Julia, Minnie, Oscar, Ravi, Saidhbhín and Wilson also feature on the list of names for 2020-21 which was compiled from names suggested by the public to reflect the diversity of the three nations.