Met Eireann has issued an updated weather warning for the north-west of the country as the tail-end of tropical Storm Helene hits the country over the coming hours.
This update has extended from the warning Met Eireann issued yesterday to include five counties.
Issued this morning (Monday, September 17) at 11:23am, the warning will come into effect at 1:00pm this afternoon and will remain in place until 5:00am tomorrow morning.
Met Eireann has warned of heavy rain at times this afternoon and tonight, with falls of 25mm to 40mm expected and a risk of local flooding.
More generally today, rain will be persistent and often heavy today in parts of Connacht and west Ulster.
It will be mostly cloudy elsewhere with just scattered outbreaks of rain and drizzle, but with limited bright or sunny spells will shine through also.
It will become blustery this afternoon with south to south-east winds increasing moderate to fresh and gusty. It will be a humid day with highs of 17° to 20°, Met Eireann forecasts.
There will be further rain overnight, expected to be heavy and persistent at times. Temperatures will drop to 12° to 15°, while winds becoming fresh westerly later in the night.
Opportunities for spraying will be fairly limited over the coming week due to the generally unsettled conditions.
Regarding field conditions, soil moisture deficits are still high in central, eastern and southern areas – generally between 30mm and 55mm. This situation is likely to improve in the week ahead, Met Eireann says.