Status Yellow wind and rain warnings in place for the country

Met Éireann has issued Status Yellow wind and rain warnings for the country as Storm Bella hits.

The warnings are in place from 3:00pm today (Saturday, December 26) until 4:00am Sunday (December 27), with westerly winds associated with the storm set to reach mean speeds of 50 to 65km/h, with gusts of 90 to 110km/h throughout the late afternoon, evening and night. Gusts will be higher at times near the west coast.

With the combination of strong winds, high waves and forecasted storm surge, there is a risk of coastal flooding along the west coast.

Heavy rain associated with the storm will move southwards over Ireland and may cause localised flooding in some areas.

There is also a Status Yellow marine gale warning in place. West to southwest winds are set to reach gale force or strong gale force today and early tonight on all Irish coastal waters and on the Irish Sea.

Tomorrow is set to be a very cold and blustery day across the country with sunny spells and showers, some of sleet, snow or hail.

Showers will mainly affect the north and west during the morning but will become more widespread through the afternoon.

Longer and heavier spells of rain will develop in the west during the evening. It will be a breezy day with fresh and gusty westerly winds and highest afternoon temperatures of just 2° to 5°.