STATUS YELLOW RAIN warnings have been issued for Cork and Waterford.

Met Éireann has said blustery spells of heavy rain could lead to spot flooding, difficult travel conditions and impaired visibility. 

The warning for Cork will come into effect at 6pm this evening and remain in place until midnight, while the warning for Waterford will commence from 9pm and remain in effect until 3am on Saturday.

The forecaster said the unsettled weather the country has seen over the last week will continue into the weekend, with rain or showers each day and cooler than average temperatures for the time of year.

Today, it’s set to stay generally dry in the east with some sunny spells, but scattered showers will be prevalent in the west and north.

Cloud will increase during the afternoon, and it’ll become wet and breezy across Munster through the evening before the rain edges into southern parts of Leinster and Connacht. Highest temperatures of 12 to 17C.

Rain will become more widespread tonight and will become heavy in places, particularly in the south. There’ll be some mist and hill fog too. Winds will become occasionally gusty, strong at times in some coastal parts. Lowest temperatures of 8 to 12C. 

Saturday will have a cloudy and wet start, with further outbreaks of rain that will be heavy in places for a while before easing. Conditions will be mostly dry with some bright or sunny spells moving into the southwest early in the morning and gradually extending elsewhere, with highs of 13 to 17C. 

There will be more cloud, rain and drizzle in the southwest, west and northwest on Saturday night, with it expected to be mostly dry elsewhere. Lowest temperatures of 10 to 13C.

Sunday morning will see it cloudy in all areas with outbreaks of rain becoming widespread from the west through the morning, some of it heavy.

Brighter conditions with sunshine and showers will move into western and northwestern parts during the afternoon, and slowly extend elsewhere. Some of the showers may turn heavy later, especially in the northwest. Highest temperatures of 14 to 18C.

Sunday night will bring a mix of clear spells and showers, with most of the showers in the west and north, some heavy. Temperatures will drop to between  7 to 10C.