Flood risk in Connacht and Munster as wind warning issued for Galway, Mayo

A status yellow wind warning has been issued for counties Galway and Mayo, with gusts of up to 100km/h forecast.

The warning came into effect at 10am on Thursday and runs until 4pm with mean speeds of 55 to 65km/h expected. Meanwhile, a yellow rainfall warning is in place for half of the country with the risk of flooding in parts of Connacht and Munster.

The warning for Connacht, Donegal, Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick is in effect until 6am on Friday. Met Éireann has said accumulations of between 30mm and 60mm of rainfall are expected, with higher values in mountainous regions.

The forecaster has also issued a yellow gale warning and small craft warning.

Q&A: Testing and tracing - Figuring out what the numbers mean

---

Children found dead in their Dublin home were murdered

---

HSE waiting for department sanction to resume PPE purchases

---

Europe enforces restrictions to avoid ‘millions’ of deaths

---

Yellow level weather alerts are for weather conditions that do not pose an immediate threat to the general population, but only to those exposed to risk by nature of their location and/or activity.

Thursday morning will be wet and windy with heavy rain and a risk of flooding in the west and northwest. The rain will turn patchier in nature by the afternoon with some dry periods developing, especially in the east and south.

Highest temperatures will be between 12 and 15 degrees, in fresh to strong south to southwest winds. Thursday night will be mostly cloudy with scattered outbreaks of rain and drizzle.

Rain in the south and southeastern coastal areas will clear on Friday morning and it will brighten up in most areas, becoming mainly dry.

Highest temperatures will range from 9 to 13 degrees while more persistent rain will extend from the south on Friday night.

Saturday will be a wet and possibly stormy day with widespread and often heavy rain. The rain will begin to clear northwards through the evening followed by scattered showers and clear spells. Highest temperatures will be between 14 and 16 degrees.

A further spell of wet and windy conditions will spread from the southwest to all areas overnight with lowest temperatures between five and eight degrees.

Rain will clear the northeast early on Sunday with scattered outbreaks of rain remaining, becoming heavy and more persistent in southern areas once again during the afternoon.

Fresh southwest winds will ease through the day but will be strong on west and northwest coasts. Highest temperatures will be between 10 and 13 degrees.