Sunshine gives way to warning of thunderstorms and floods

Met Éireann warns of up to 50mm of rain in a short period from Friday afternoon

Forecasters have issued a weather warning for very heavy rainfall from Friday afternoon.

As many parts of the country experienced another warm and humid day on Thursday, Met Éireann warned Friday would see "severe thunderstorm activity, spot flooding and lightning strikes".

Its status yellow rainfall warning issued this morning forecasts “high intensity rainfall amounts in scattered thunderstorms during Friday, leading to spot flooding”. It said as much as 50mm of rain was possible in a short space of time.

The warning is valid from midday on Friday until 10pm.

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This week has been the hottest of summer 2018 so far with temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius or more since the weekend. On Wednesday, temperatures passed 20 degrees in many parts reaching 24 in Shannon Airport and 23.7 at the weather station in Markree Castle in Co Sligo.

The national forecaster said Friday would start warm and humid again with a little hazy sunshine at times. However, there will be a good deal of cloud and widespread showers. “Showers, mainly in eastern counties at first will become more widespread through the afternoon. Many of the showers will be heavy, with localised severe thunderstorm activity, spot flooding and lightning strikes,” it added.

Temperatures will continue to be between 17 and 23 degrees, according to the latest forecast on the Met Éireann website.

It said warm and humid conditions would continue for the next seven days at least.

The weekend will see some hazy sunshine in places, but it will be cloudy at times also with scattered showers. Some showers will be heavy and possibly thundery, especially in the north and northwest but many areas will remain largely or completely dry.