The weather is to become wet and windy by the end of this week, with the possibility of some localised flooding in parts of the country, the national forecaster has said.
According to Met Éireann, Thursday will be a sunny day with a chance of isolated showers in the west and cloudier conditions in the east. Highest afternoon temperatures will be 14-16 degrees.
However, things will become more unsettled overnight when heavy rain will extend from the northwest and lowest temperatures being between six and 11 degrees.
Siobhán Ryan, a forecaster with Met Éireann, said while the weather does not look like it will meet the threshold of a storm, Friday morning will be very wet and windy.
“There will be gales coming in from the sea, and they will be widespread gales. It won’t make for a good start to the day,” she said.
“There is a possibility that there will be localised flooding or spot flooding. It’s unlikely to be a named storm in Ireland — possibly in the UK — but it’s not beyond the realms.”
The weather will improve for the second half of the day, with clearer conditions and scattered showers. Highest temperatures of 15-18 degrees are expected.
Scattered showers will continue overnight, most frequent along Atlantic coasts. Lowest temperatures of 8-12 degrees are forecast, in mostly moderate southwest to west winds.
On Saturday, there will be sunny spells and occasional showers, with some turning heavy and thundery at times. It should be drier and brighter into the late afternoon.
It will feel cool in blustery westerly winds with highest temperatures of 13-16 degrees.
Overnight, showers will mainly affect western areas, although they will be lighter in general. Lowest temperatures will be 8-11 degrees in moderating westerly winds.
Current indications suggest Sunday should be a drier and brighter day with lighter wind when compared with Saturday, so the better day of the two this weekend.
“Day on day it will gradually improve. But for much of the week it will be very up and down,” Ms Ryan said.
According to the forecaster, the weather over the next seven days will be wetter than would be typical for this time of year.
“We are in advance of the autumn schedule weather-wise for the next week. The average rainfall will be 1.5-2 times the normal,” Ms Ryan added.
