THE WEEK BEFORE Christmas is set to be wet and windy across the country, with Status Yellow warnings coming into effect later today.

According to Met Éireann, strong winds and heavy showers are expected in the west of the country as today progresses, later spreading east.

A Status Yellow wind warning has been issued for all of Munster, Connacht and Donegal, and will come into effect this afternoon at 1pm and last until tomorrow morning at 4pm.

Winds with average speeds of up to 65 km/h are expected, with gusts of between 90 and 100 km/h. 

A separate Status Yellow wind warning has also been issued for Leinster, Cavan and Monaghan. It will come into effect this evening at 7pm and last until Tuesday morning at 9am.

Forecast

Today will start dull with some bright spells in the east. Cloud will spread from the west and it will become drizzly in many areas as the afternoon progresses. 

Later in the evening, it will become rainy and increasingly windy in the west of the country, with some risk of spot flooding. 

The rain will turn heavy overnight in the west, and will slowly spread eastwards with risks of flooding. It will remain very windy, especially in coastal areas.

Tomorrow morning will see heavy rain over Ulster and Leinster, but it will be clearer in the west. Temperatures will drop to between six and nine degrees. 

The rest of the week will see a mixture of rain and wind, with scattered showers likely across most of the country.