Ireland weather: Met Éireann issues fresh persistent rain warnings for six counties

Ireland’s Met office has issued fresh rain warnings for several counties that were badly affected by Storm Ashley over the weekend.

The forecaster issued yellow rain warnings for counties Mayo, Galway, Clare, Limerick, Kerry and Cork, due to come into effect at 3pm on Thursday.

The warnings for Kerry and Cork will be valid until 1pm on Friday, while the warnings for the other counties will expire earlier, at 3am on Friday.

Met Éireann also issued a fresh weather warning on Sunday morning as further heavy rain will hit the south east of the country.

Storm Ashley, the first named storm of the season, caused significant disruption and damage on the west coast over the weekend – tens of thousands of homes were left without power, with Galway, Mayo and Kerry among the worst-affected counties.

There was some coastal flooding reported in Galway, and hazardous conditions meant many flights in and out of Dublin and Belfast were cancelled. Sporting events – including several Gaelic football county finals – were postponed.

Met Éireann said Cork and Kerry would see heavy and persistent rain on Thursday into Friday, with the possibility of thunderstorms.

There is also a chance of localised flooding, difficult travelling conditions and poor visibility.

Much of the heavier rainfall on Saturday night and early on Sunday morning was concentrated on the eastern seaboard but power outages were also confirmed in Kerry, Mayo, Cavan, Monaghan and Roscommon.