Ireland weather: Rain warnings come into effect but strange start to the day for Cork

The rain has arrived in a major way in many areas of the country as a number of weather warnings kick into effect across Ireland.

A 24-hour Status Orange rain warning came into place for Cork and Kerry at midnight, while the counties of Clare, Limerick, Galway and Mayo face a Met Eireann Status Yellow rain warning for the same period.

Meanwhile, Waterford will fall under a Status Orange rain warning from midday on Saturday and this will remain valid for 12 hours.

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Interestingly, despite the Orange rain warning being in place in Cork for eight hours at the time of writing, those waking up in the Rebel County have reported little to no rain. If you find yourself in Cork, however, don't get your hopes up that you've somehow avoided the downpours because a weather expert has advised that they are very much on the way.

Alan O'Reilly, who mans the ever-popular @CarlowWeather account on X (formerly Twitter) posted this morning: "People in Cork may be wondering why they are waking to no rain when Orange warning started at midnight but the rain is on the way in next couple of hours.

"Starting in West Cork and moving into other areas. This is part of the issue with using county boundaries for warnings!"

The potential risks associated with the various weather warnings in place today include river and coastal flooding, dangerous travelling conditions and general travel disruption.

The rain will be heaviest in mountainous areas but, thankfully, temperatures will remain rather mild so the rainfall will not be cold as highs of between 14C and 17C are forecast nationwide.

A Met Eireann spokesperson said: "Heavy and persistent rain will continue across the southwest and west this morning with some thundery falls leading to flooding. The rain will gradually spread further east later this afternoon with particularly heavy falls also expected across south Leinster. Elsewhere it will be overcast with patchy rain with fresh and blustery southerly winds throughout. Highs today of 14 to 17 degrees.

"Cloudy with widespread rain, heavy at times in the south. The rain will gradually become patchy later tonight. Southeasterly winds will be fresh to strong at times. Lows of 8 to 12 degrees."

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