At least three people were killed as Storm Ciarán pushed into Italy on Friday, bringing the storm’s death toll in western Europe to 10 as it swept across Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
Meanwhile, Ireland is set to get a much-needed break from the recent flooding and stormy weather as conditions calm over the weekend, Met Éireann has said.
Weather conditions are set to be cold, wet and breezy over the coming days but Met Éireann has not issued any storm or flooding alerts for the weekend.
However, Storm Domingos – named by the Portugese meteorological office – is set to hit western Europe in the early hours of Saturday morning bringing significant sea swells and strong winds to Spain and Mediterranean coasts and parts of Britain. However, the worst of the storm will bypass Ireland and Met Éireann has not issued any weather warnings before its arrival. A forecaster from the office said Domingos would bring some rain to southern Irish counties but that a storm warning was not required.
Record-breaking rainfall produced floods in a vast swathe of Tuscany, trapping residents in their homes, inundating hospitals and overturning cars.
[ Newry swamped by floods a second time as country braces for Storm CiaránOpens in new window ]
Italian Civil Protection authorities said nearly eight inches of rain fell in a three-hour period, from the city of Livorno on the coast to the inland valley of Mugello, and caused riverbanks to overflow
The dead in Tuscany included an 85-year-old man found in the flooded ground floor of his home near the city of Prato, north of Florence, and an 84-year-old woman who died while trying to push water out of her home in the same area, said Italian news agency ANSA.
A big incident was declared in parts of England and significant flood warnings as Storm Ciarán tracked across the south coast.
Back in Ireland, Met Éireann has forecast breezy and wet weather for Friday with sunny spells across some parts of the country. The rain will be heaviest across Ulster but will move across the southwest on Friday evening before settling across most of the south of the country. Temperatures will drop close to zero bringing frost in northern counties.
Saturday will be a wet and cold morning although the rain is set to ease during the day, said the forecaster. The east of the country will remain wet with sunny spells in other areas, however the rain will move towards the West and southwest in the evening.
Temperatures are set to drop again on Saturday night to two degrees Celsius while there will be heavy and prolonged showers across Atlantic counties.
Sunday will be another mixed day of rain and sunny spells with showers heaviest across the western half of the country leading to spot flooding. These heavy showers will set in across the Atlantic seaboard on Sunday night with long, clear spells further east in the country. Temperatures will not be as low as previous nights, dropping to between 5 and 8 degrees Celsius.
The wet weather is set to continue early next week with possible hail forecast in the northwest of the country. – Additional reporting from PA
