LAST UPDATE | 22 Aug

MUCH OF THE country will be under either a wind or rain warning from tonight as the weather turns rough with the arrival of Storm Lilian.

Storm Lilian was named by the UK Met Office and while most of its main impacts will be felt across the UK, Met Éireann have issued yellow wind and rain warnings as a result. 

Met Éireann forecaster Brandon Creagh said the strongest of the winds will occur overnight but that with trees still in full leaf, people need to be careful of debris or branches on the roads tomorrow morning.

Met Éireann has updated its weather warnings to issue a Status Yellow warning for rain for counties Clare, Galway, Louth, Longford, Meath, Offaly, Roscommon and Westmeath from 10pm tonight until 4am tomorrow morning.

Heavy rain spreading northeastwards could bring localised flooding and difficult travelling conditions, according to the national forecaster.

Met Éireann said there will be heavy rainfall over a short time period and that this rainfall could exceed 20mm accumulations over a 6 hour period overnight.

Additionally, a Status Yellow wind warning has been issued for 13 counties from midnight until 6am.

Met Éireann has warned that Carlow, Clare, Cork, Dublin, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow will face “unseasonably strong and gusty” winds.

The winds are expected to coincide with “very high tides” and there is a risk of coastal flooding.

Ireland is currently in a period of very high tides and there is a High Tide Advisory in effect for all coasts of Ireland until 12pm tomorrow, leading to the continued risk of coastal flooding and wave overtopping on coasts affected by onshore winds.

Other potential impacts include power outages and fallen trees.

Overall, Met Éireann’s forecast for today anticipates “lingering overnight rain and drizzle” that “will soon clear eastwards this morning and sunny spells and scattered showers will follow from the west for a time”.

“Cloud and rain will return to the west and southwest this afternoon, however, before spreading elsewhere this evening and turning heavy in parts. Highest temperatures of 15 to 18 degrees with mostly moderate west to southwest winds.”

Meanwhile, Storm Lilian is named after Lilian Bland, who was an Anglo-Irish journalist and pioneer aviator.

She was the first woman in Ireland to build and fly an aircraft, and quite possibly the world’s first woman to build her own airplane, the Bland Mayfly.

-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper