LAST UPDATE | 8 Dec 2023

IT’S SET TO be a wet and windy weekend ahead with a weather warning issued for three counties. 

A Status Yellow wind warning is in place for Clare, Galway and Mayo until 4pm. 

Another Status Yellow wind warning will kick in for all of Connacht, Clare and Tipperary tomorrow at 8am and will remain in place until 8pm. 

A third Status Yellow wind warning has been issued for Leinster, Cavan and Monaghan. This will be valid from 10am to 8pm tomorrow. 

Donegal will be under a Status Yellow wind warning from midday to 8pm tomorrow. 

In some of these warnings, Met Éireann has warned of strong and gusty west to southwest winds with the potential for wave overtopping.

It is also warning that the strong winds will cause disruption and travelling difficulties. 

In the North, the UK’s Met Office has issued a rain warning for Antrim, Down, Tyrone and Derry. This kicks in at 6am and will remain in place until 7pm tomorrow. A wind warning will also be in place for the six counties tomorrow. 

Looking at the general forecast, it will be windy today with widespread showers, merging to give longer spells of rain at times. 

Met Éireann has said the best chance of sunny spells will be in southern areas during the afternoon. 

Conditions will continue to be blustery tonight with showers confined to Ulster at first. 

However, a spell of rain is forecast to arrive in the southwest by around midnight, extending northeastwards across the country overnight. A clearance is due to follow into the southwest by dawn tomorrow and it will turn windy there. 

Temperatures are forecast to drop as low as 5 degrees tonight. 

It’s expected to be a very windy day tomorrow. 

Tomorrow morning, rain is due to continue to push northeastwards over the country, becoming confined to north Ulster by the afternoon. 

Sunny spells and blustery showers will follow across the rest of the country, and some of the showers are expected to be heavy with hail. 

There is a potential for showers to merge and result in longer spells of rain. 

Looking ahead, Met Éireann has said conditions will stay unsettled with wet and blustery weather at times. 

Winds are forecast to gradually ease tomorrow night as showers become isolated and mostly restricted to north Ulster. 

However, later tomorrow night, a further spell of rain is expected to push in across Munster and Connacht, extending across the rest of the country by dawn on Sunday. 

Temperatures are due to drop as low as 4 degrees tomorrow night. 

Sunday is due to see rain clear northeastwards during the morning, leaving a day of sunny spells and showers. 

Some of the showers are expected to be heavy and prolonged, especially in the west. 

It’s forecast to become windy on Sunday with fresh to strong southwest winds developing through the day.