Met Éireann warning of thunderstorms, strong winds and heavy rain extends to Monday

ESB working to restore power to homes in Fermoy, Ballina and Castlecomer

The areas affected are likely to see heavy showers with strong winds and possible falls of hail. Photograph: Cyril Byrne/The Irish Times
The areas affected are likely to see heavy showers with strong winds and possible falls of hail. Photograph: Cyril Byrne/The Irish Times

The western half of Ireland is expected to be battered by wind and rain over the next three days.

A status yellow thunderstorm warning has been issued for all the counties of Munster, Connacht and Donegal until 9pm on Saturday night.

The conditions have already caused power outages at several thousand homes with Fermoy (1,000 customers), Ballina (700) and Castlecomer (600) the worst affected areas early on Saturday evening. Real time updates are available at powercheck.ie.

The areas affected are likely to see heavy showers with strong winds and possible falls of hail.

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There may be spot flooding and dangerous road conditions as a result.

On Sunday three more yellow weather warnings are in place. A wind and rain warning is in place for Munster, Connacht and Donegal with spells of heavy rain expected from 1pm on 10pm.

The high winds will persist in Kerry and Limerick until 6am on Monday morning and in the counties of Clare, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo until midday on Monday.

Disruption is expected with winds gusting at up to 90 to 100 km/h, higher near coasts and exposed areas.

There will be a return to better weather on Tuesday across the country with highest temperatures of between 13 and 16 degrees, but Wednesday will be a wet day in many places with heavy falls of rain especially in the south.

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Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy is a news reporter with The Irish Times