Risk of flooding after status yellow rain warning issued

A status yellow rain warning has been issued for several counties in the southern part of the country, which could result in localised flooding, the national forecaster has warned.

The warning, which covers Munster, Carlow, Kilkenny, Laois, Wexford, Wicklow and Offaly will come into effect from 1am on Thursday until 1am on Friday.

Met Éireann said "intense and potentially thundery downpours" are expected on Wednesday night, Thursday and Thursday night.

The heavy rainfall may lead to localised flooding, and given recent heavy rainfall, this will further elevate river levels and may result in river flooding also.

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The rain will gradually clear, and Friday will be a cool, breezy day with sunny spells and showers, the heaviest and most frequent of which will be in the east.

It will become mainly dry later in the day on Friday, with showers becoming confined to east and north facing coastal areas.

Any remaining showers will clear on Friday night with lowest temperatures of 7 to 10 degrees in a light north to northwest breeze.

It is the second time this week that weather warnings have been issued for the country.

Storm Francis

Orange and yellow rain and wind warnings were issued earlier this week as Storm Francis tracked across the country on Monday night.

The storm resulted in flooding in several locations around the country, with a number of roads being impassable due to excess water or fallen trees.

Co Cork bore the brunt of the unsettled weather, with dozens of homes in Bantry being flooded on Tuesday morning.

Around 25mm of rain fell on the town in just two hours leaving the town’s drainage system struggling to cope.

New Street, Main Street, Barrack Street and the Square were the worst affected with council crews and the local fire brigade working with residents and business owners to clear debris and pump away remaining flood water.

Storm Francis was hot on the heels of Storm Ellen last week, which also caused flooding in Cork and left hundreds of thousands of people without power.