ALERT: Met Éireann extends weather warnings as Ireland braces for rain to dominate week

Met Éireann has extended and updated two Status Yellow rain warnings for eight counties, while issuing a nationwide weather advisory covering all of Ireland until next Monday as persistent rain is forecast to dominate much of the week ahead.

The updated warnings follow alerts issued on Sunday, with forecasters now stressing that already saturated ground, high river levels and high tides are combining to increase flood risks.

For Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Cork and Waterford, the Yellow rain warning has been extended, now running from 9pm Monday until 3pm Tuesday.

A separate Yellow rain warning for Dublin, Louth and Wicklow has also been pushed back, now valid from 6am until 9pm on Tuesday.

Met Éireann warns that “further heavy rain falling on saturated ground combined with high river levels and high tides will lead to localised flooding, river flooding and difficult travel conditions.”

Alongside the warnings, Met Éireann has issued a weather advisory for the entire country, stating that “spells of heavy and persistent rainfall will continue through the week, particularly in southern and eastern coastal counties.”

The national forecaster warns that rain falling on already saturated ground, combined with high tides, “will lead to further flooding along rivers and in coastal areas”.

According to Met Éireann’s national forecast, Monday will turn increasingly wet with “more persistent rain pushing into the south-west towards midday, turning heavy at times later.”

The forecaster warns that “given the already saturated soils and high river levels, this rainfall may lead to flooding.”

Rain will then extend north-eastwards tonight, becoming “heaviest and most persistent in the south and south-east and later in the east.”

While conditions are expected to ease somewhat on Tuesday, Met Éireann says the wider picture remains unsettled.

The outlook warns that low pressure will continue to dominate, bringing “further spells of rain this week, the most persistent and heaviest of these affecting the south and east of the country.”

Conditions are set to worsen again midweek, with Thursday flagged as “a wet and windy day with widespread outbreaks of rain” which will be “persistent and heavy at times”, followed by another cloudy and windy day on Friday, with rain again most persistent in the south and east.

Met Éireann says current indications suggest similar unsettled conditions may persist into the weekend, urging people to monitor local forecasts and river levels closely.