Heavy rain expected on Saturday with possible sleet, snow

More heavy rain is expected to return on Saturday with possible sleet and snow over Munster, Connacht and the Midlands.

Forecaster Evelyn Cusack has warned of a weather system moving in from the Atlantic through Friday night and into Saturday.

Ms Cusack said on Thursday she expected “at least a status yellow, perhaps orange” weather warning to be issued by noon on Friday for the weekend.

"Our current models predict about 50mm, perhaps 80mm of rain," she said. "Impossible to predict where exactly but we're talking about parts of Munster, Connacht, perhaps into parts of Donegal as well."

Advancing heavy rain

Met Éireann has warned of further flooding on Saturday with the south and west of the country most at risk. Any snow which appears early in the day will clear with the advancing heavy rain.

Temperatures will rise through the day reaching 11 degrees in some areas as milder air is drawn up over the country. The north of the of the country will remain cool for most of the day.

The rain will continue overnight on Saturday and there will be further outbreaks of rain on Sunday. The weather will clear throughout the afternoon but rain will return later in the night.

Monday will be unsettled with temperatures remaining mild for the time of the year.