Up to 50mm of rain are expected to fall along the west coast during tonight and the majority of tomorrow, according to Met Eireann.

A status yellow rainfall warning was issued at 7:00am this morning, July 20.

Counties Galway, Mayo, Clare and Kerry are all set to be affected by heavy rainfall. Accumulations of between 30mm and 50mm are forecast in these areas.

The rainfall warning is set to be valid for a 24-hour period – from 9:00pm tonight until 9:00pm tomorrow, Friday (July 21).

This follows on from a similar warning that was in place for the majority of yesterday. Up to 35mm of rain were expected to fall in many areas.

Meanwhile, Met Eireann has also issued a status yellow potato blight warning earlier this morning.

Weather conducive to the spread of potato blight will be apparent for the rest of today, Thursday and Friday. There’ll be few, if any, opportunities for spraying, Met Eireann added.

Outlook

Today, Thursday, is likely to remain dry for a time. However, there is a risk that scattered heavy – and possibly thundery – showers elsewhere will gradually extend eastwards this afternoon and early evening.

Temperatures will range from 14º to 18º; it is set to be breezy up along the west and southwest seaboard.

Showers are forecast to merge to longer spells of heavy rain in the southwest later this evening. This heavy rain will then move up across the country overnight, with the ongoing risk of thunder as well as localised flooding.

Later in the night a clearance will develop across southern counties, as the band of thundery rain moves away northwards, according to Met Eireann. Temperatures will drop to as low as 8º in places.

Overnight thundery rain is expected to retreat to Atlantic coastal counties during tomorrow morning, Friday. Winds are expected to be mostly light to moderate variable.