LAST UPDATE | 16 Sep

NINE COUNTIES ARE set to come under a Status Yellow alert for rain later this evening.

The alert will come into force from 8pm across counties Cork and Kerry and remain in place until the early hours of tomorrow morning at 3am.

Elsewhere, the Status Yellow warning will come into place across Cavan, Donegal and all of Connacht from 10pm tonight and remain in place until 5am.

Met Éireann is forecasting heavy spells of blustery rain in these counties, with possible impacts including difficult travelling conditions, poor visibility, and localised flooding.

A Status Yellow gale warning is also in place for all coasts and on the Irish Sea, with Met Éireann warning that wind will reach gale force 8 at times. This warning is in place from 8pm tonight until 10am tomorrow.

Separately, a small craft warning is also in place for all coasts of Ireland from 5pm today until midnight Thursday.

Meanwhile, it’s been a dry and bright morning for most today, with just well scattered showers, which will become more frequent in Ulster early on.

Cloud and outbreaks of rain and drizzle will develop in the southwest later in the morning, gradually extending north eastwards through the day and turning heavy in the west and southwest later.

However, the rain will not reach Ulster until night-time and there will be highest daytime temperatures of 14 to 17 degrees.

Tonight there will be widespread outbreaks of rain, heavy in places and with spot flooding likely.

The rain will mostly clear eastwards by morning with some patches of fog developing in southern areas.

It will give way tomorrow morning to a largely dry but cloudy morning, with isolated showers and just limited sunny spells.

Better sunny spells will develop from the south during the afternoon but cloud and showers may push into southern areas during the evening, with highest temperatures of 15 to 19 degrees.