Status Orange fog warning issued for entire country

Met Eireann has issued a Status Orange fog weather warning for the entire country this afternoon due to poor visibility.

Issued at – and valid from – 12:00pm today (Thursday, January 11), the weather warning will last until 2:00am tomorrow morning.

According to Met Eireann, fog – causing very poor visibility – will linger in many inland areas this afternoon and will become more extensive and dense this evening and, for a time, tonight.

As well as this, a Status Yellow rainfall warning has been issued for counties Galway, Mayo, Clare, Cork and Kerry.

This warning will be valid from 3:00pm tomorrow (Friday, January 12) until 12:00pm on Saturday, January 13. Heavy rainfall is expected later tomorrow, overnight and into early Saturday – with falls of between 30mm and 50mm likely.

Today will be cold, with fog lingering in many inland areas this afternoon. This will become more extensive again after dark. Some bright or sunny spells are expected where fog has cleared and especially in coastal counties. Top afternoon temperatures of 3° to 7° are given for the day.

It will be cold tonight, with dense fog and some frost for a time especially in midland, northern and eastern areas with overnight lows of -1° to +3°.

But, as southeasterly winds freshen later tonight, the fog will thin and frost will tend to clear – but, there could be patchy drizzle as cloud will thicken, Met Eireann predicts.

Tomorrow

The meteorological office expects rather windy conditions tomorrow, with strong and gusty southeasterly winds given. It will be mainly dry at first with a few bright spells in eastern areas, but rather cloudy overall, with patches of drizzle and mist scattered about.

A spell of heavy rain will move in from the Atlantic in the afternoon, to affect much of Munster and Connacht by nightfall. Afternoon temperatures will range from 5° to 9°, while it will be coldest in the north.

Tomorrow night will be windy and very wet over the western half of the country, with heavy, possibly thundery rain, in many areas and some flooding. Winds will be strong to gale force and gusty southeasterly.

It will be windy and mostly cloudy elsewhere too with the rain spreading eastwards; some heavy rain is expected by dawn. Lowest temperatures are expected to be 4° to 8°.