Met Éireann has issued a Status Yellow rainfall warning for four counties in the northwest of the country for Sunday (October 4).

The affected counties are Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo. The warning was issued today at 4:00pm, and will come into effect at 7:00am on Sunday morning.

These counties will see heavy and at times intense rainfall with totals of 25mm to 40mm of rainfall expected.

The warning is set to lift at 9:00pm Sunday night.

The warning comes as Storm Alex moves towards Ireland, which is expected to bring wet and windy weather across much of the country today and over the weekend.

The storm moved up from the north-west of France over the course of last night and today. Strong wind gusts are expected to hit Ireland today as a result.

Met Éireann has advised: “Storm Alex and associated lows and fronts are forecast to bring wet and windy weather across France, Britain and Ireland over the rest of the week.”

Rain on Friday and Saturday may cause flooding in some parts. The wet weather will ease in most parts on Sunday apart form the counties under the weather warning. However, it will remain blustery around the country, with some strong gusts.