Met Éireann issues immediate thunderstorm warning for 19 counties

Thunderstorms are possible in the south and east of the country on Friday evening as Met Éireann issued a weather warning for 19 counties.

The forecaster said localised thunderstorms could lead to spot flooding and difficult travelling conditions.

The status yellow warning for thunderstorms is in place for Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford and Leitrim until 9pm on Friday.

Elsewhere there will be sunny spells and scattered showers for the rest of Friday, Met Éireann said. Showers will gradually become isolated on Friday night and mostly confined to the north and east, with temperatures dropping to between 8 to 11 degrees.

The outlook for the weekend is for changeable weather with showers at times.

Saturday will be generally cloudy with showers becoming fairly widespread in the afternoon. The best of the drier and brighter intervals will be in the west and southwest, according to Met Éireann. Temperatures will reach 15 to 19 degrees, warmest in the south.

Sunday will be rather wet and blustery to start as a band of rain moves across the country during the morning. Met Éireann said the rain will gradually clear away to the east followed by scattered showers, with temperatures peaking at 16 to 20 degrees.