Status Orange rain warning extended to five counties

Met Éireann has issued a Status Orange rain warning for counties Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford for tomorrow.

It follows a similar alert yesterday for counties Cork and Waterford.

The latest alert will come into effect at 1pm tomorrow and will remain valid until midnight.

Met Éireann said that possible impacts include flooding, dangerous driving conditions and travel disruptions.

The Status Orange rain warning for Cork and Waterford will come into effect at 8am tomorrow and will remain valid until 6pm.

Status Yellow wind and rain warnings have also been issued.

From 5am tomorrow, warning will be valid for all of Munster until 8pm.

Meanwhile a Status Yellow wind and rain warning for counties Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Wexford and Wicklow will be in place from midday tomorrow until 2am Monday.

The Road Safety Authority has urged motorists to exercise caution and to check local traffic and weather conditions in areas affected by the orange warning, before setting out on a journey.

Cork County Council's severe weather assessment team has convened in advance of the Orange warning.

Cork County Council crews say they have inspected key high-risk areas and will continue to monitor the situation throughout the period of poor weather tomorrow.

Pumping arrangements have been put in place and sandbags will be deployed to risk areas on a prioritised basis.

The council has confirmed that the Dursey cable car will not be operational tomorrow due to the predicted strong and gusty winds, and will resume with weather conditions improve.