IT’S GOING TO rain later – quite a bit – so you should probably bring an umbrella.

Then again, if you’re in the west, that umbrella may be more of a hindrance than a help.

A wind warning has just kicked in for the west coast.

It applies to:

• Donegal
• Galway
• Leitrim
• Mayo
• Sligo
• Clare
• Cork
• Kerry
• Limerick

The status yellow weather warning kicked in at 9am, and stays in effect until 9pm tonight.

Here’s the official warning:

Very strong southerly winds developing during Bank Holiday Monday. Mean winds of 45-55 km/h with gusts between 90 and 100 km/h. Along the west coast mean winds will reach 55-65 km/h in the afternoon with gusts between 100 and 110 km/h and strong gales at sea.

It’s not just the west that will be affected: it will be windy everywhere.

This evening, rain will spread to all parts of the country.

Looking ahead to tomorrow – forecasters are telling us to expect “sunny intervals and scattered blustery showers”.

More persistent rain will develop in the south in the evening.

And in case you were holding out major hopes for next weekend…

Through the week, temperatures will be no better than normal at any stage and the wetter days will be particularly cool.

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