Met Éireann issues yellow weather warning for five counties

A weather warning for rain has been issued for the western half of Ireland, with a prolonged period of rain and potential flooding expected.

A status yellow rain warning is in place for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo, and the warning will be lifted at 3am on Saturday.

Cork and Kerry will also be put under a yellow rain warning from noon today.

Met Éireann has predicted that there will be a prolonged period of rain, with heavier bursts at times. The rain will be heaviest and most persistent on Friday.

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Significant rain accumulations are possible especially in upland areas, and there is a risk of localised flooding.

However, temperatures are set to remain very mild across the country, potentially reaching 16 or 17 degrees in some parts.

This is due to a frontal system brought about by ex-hurricane Sam, which is currently over Iceland. This system will stall over the western half of Ireland, and it will bring a lot of moisture with it, resulting in lots of rain.

Meanwhile Met Éireann reported the highest maximum temperature on record for Shannon Airport in September at 27.9C.

In its weather report for September, it said that all mean air temperatures across the country were above their Long-Term Average (LTA) for the month.

The highest maximum temperature of 27.9 °C was reported at both Shannon Airport, Co Clare (its highest max temperature for September on record) and Valentia Observatory, Co Kerry (its highest max temperature for September since 1991).

The highest total rainfall was 147.8mm at Knock Airport, Co Mayo and the lowest at Phoenix Park, Co Dublin.

Overall, Met Éireann said that the very dry weather from the end of August continued for most of the first week of September as high-pressure to the north of Ireland slowly pulled away to the east. Low-pressure moved up from the south at the beginning of the second week giving some widespread heavy and sometimes thundery rain or showers. The third and most of the fourth weeks saw low-pressure to the north and high-pressure to the south.

It noted that an active cold front, which brought widespread heavy rain on the 26th and 27th, introduced a much cooler polar maritime air mass. “This marked a change to more autumnal conditions that continued to the end of the month with rain or showers on each day,” Met Éireann said in the report.