First things first: the weather.

It’s fairly wet out there this morning across large parts of the country. Dublin City Council Traffic Management centrehas warned commuters to slow down and take care.

It’s not all bad though: Met Éireann says the rain will start to clear later today with the magic words – good sunny spells – popping up later in the afternoon.

In other words: bring your rain coat with you now, but hopefully you won’t need it coming home.

Here’s the rainfall radar from Met Éireann showing how the country looks right now:

Met.ie Met.ie

AA Roadwatch says that the Kildare/Nurney Road is closed at Walterstown Cross after a crash and diversions are in place in the area.

In the comments, Trevor Beale has a word of warning for people coming in on motorways this morning:

There’s been a crash in Cork city, close to the Clarion Hotel.

Speaking of getting around, if you’re thinking of attending any of the 1916 commemorations this weekend, my helpful colleague Daragh Brophy has put together this piece on everything that will be happening around the capital city this weekend.

Around half a million people are expected in Dublin on Sunday morning/afternoon alone, and there will be extra Dart, Luas and Dublin Bus services to cater for the surge in demand.

AA Roadwatch is warning that horses are loose in Galway on Bothar na dTreabh:

In Dublin, traffic in Drumcondra is heavy at the moment approaching the Archbishop’s Palace:

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council

LiveDriveis also warning that the North Quays are already very busy, estimating that it is taking 30 minutes to drive from one end to the other.

The biggest stories this morning:

• The man who was shot dead outside his home in Ratoath in Meath last night has been named locally as Noel Duggan – a close friend of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch. There are concerns that this will lead to an escalation between the Hutch and Kinahan criminal gangs in Dublin. 
• EU leaders will meet later today to talk about security in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday.
• A man in the UK has been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred after sending a series of tweets about how he had confronted a Muslim woman in London about the Brussels attacks.

Here’s the 8 at 8 in full.

Got any information about how traffic is moving where you are? Let us know in the comments, mail me at christine@thejournal.ie, or tweet @thejournal_ie.

O’Connell Street in Dublin looks unusually quiet right now:

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council

Not everywhere is quiet though: You can get a glimpse of how busy the North Quays are from the Dublin City Council traffic cameras:

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council

LiveDrive reports that there has been a crash on the M50 southbound slip road towards the N7 at the Red Cow.

One Twitter user at the scene says that it happened on the right lane but that there is debris spread across both lanes.

Drivers in Cork should take extra care on the N20 Cork-Limerick Road: AA Roadwatch says there’s a fuel spill between Mallow and Buttevant.

Some helpful driving tips from An Garda Síochána on Twitter last night. Morto for the driver who tried to get away with this:

One for the Waterfordians: AA Roadwatch says that Conduit Lane is closed due to an unspecified incident. Motorists have been advised to use a different route instead.

Google Maps Google Maps

Some news from New Zealand in the last hour:

The country has voted to keep its current flag, after a referendum to introduce an alternative flag was rejected by 56.6% of voters to 43.1%.

The New Zealand prime minister John Key had led the charge for the alternative flag, saying that the existing flag is a colonial relic. He was gracious in defeat:

The full story is here.

AA Roadwatch is warning about three separate fuel spills in Dublin, Westmeath and Offaly, so take care if you’re approaching any of these roads:

LiveDrive says that the collision on the M50 sliproad at the Red Cow has now been cleared. There are still delays in the area.

Separately, there’s been a crash at Ballymount.

Ok folks, that’s about it for today. Hope you’ve all made it to wherever you need to be this morning. If you’re heading into a four-day weekend, have a good one.