Orange rain warning for Cork as heavy rain moves into Sunday morning

Met Éireann has issued rain warnings for several counties for Saturday night into early Sunday, upgrading at least one area to a Status Orange alert as heavy, potentially thundery rain moves across the south and east of the country. The national forecaster warned of spells of heavy rain, localised and river flooding in places, and difficult travelling conditions from Saturday evening through Sunday morning.

The strongest alert applies to Cork, which Met Éireann placed under a Status Orange rain warning for Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday. Status Yellow warnings cover a wider set of counties; forecasts and bulletins list Kerry, Waterford, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny among those expected to see heavy and persistent rain. Some of Met Éireann's updates also indicated an Orange warning for Waterford, while others specified Waterford under Yellow, with start times and exact coverage varying by bulletin. Warnings are scheduled to take effect during Saturday evening and expire on Sunday morning, with specific start times differing by county.

Forecasters said the rain will spread northeastwards across the country on Saturday, becoming heavier in the south and southwest by...