BY NOW, ALL reports about the weather should come with their own depressing soundtrack.

And we hate to be the bearer of bad news but today is no different. So time to batten down the hatches, dry off the anorak and prepare for yet more bad weather.

Met Éireann has issued a yellow alert warning for 15 counties which will be in place until 6pm today with winds expected to reach up to 96 km/h.

The affected counties are – deep breath – Dublin, Louth, Wexford, Wicklow, Meath, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford.

The strongest winds are expected in exposed coastal areas of the south and west of the country but it’s still going to be strong in other counties too.

And because it never rains but it pours (sorry), there’s going to be widespread showers today, many of which will be extremely heavy or even hail.

Met Éireann has warned that we should expect isolated thunderstorms and local spot flooding in parts of the country.

So if you live in one of the counties affected by the weather warning, be careful out there today – and don’t get blown away…

Rain over Ireland this morning. (Pic: Met.ie)

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