People have been warned of possible flooding overnight as Storm Claudia sweeps across Ireland.
A Status Orange rain warning is in place for counties Dublin, Wexford and Wicklow until 8am on Saturday, and a Status Yellow rain warning is in place in 10 other counties, mostly along the east and south coasts.
These counties are Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Louth, and Meath.
Met Éireann said that “significant” flooding and hazardous travelling conditions are possible.
On Friday, it will be windy nationwide with widespread rain across Munster and Leinster.
It will be much drier across Ulster and Connacht.
Keith Leonard, national director for Fire and Emergency Management, said local authorities had been preparing since Thursday for heavy rainfall.
He said flooding over the next 24 hours was the main concern, and that fallen leaves clogging drains was a “complicating factor”.
He said the storm arriving from the south rather than the west would bring “the rainfall into slightly different catchments than it might normally hit”.
ESB Networks is advising people to report any damage to electricity infrastructure, and not to approach fallen lines.
Significant disruption to services is not expected, but the ESB said any faults should be reported immediately.
Rebecca Cantwell from Met Éireann said there is a severe risk of flooding.
“Due to the recent rainfall earlier in the week, we have saturated grounds and swollen rivers as it is. So the addition of this extra rainfall means that we can expect significant river and surface flooding in those counties under the orange warning.
“There will be hazardous driving conditions, all counties under the rainfall warnings are at risk of flooding today, overnight and into tomorrow.”
Cork County Council has activated a Level One Flood response plan in East Cork with pumps in place at locations prone to flooding.
Up to 40mm of rain is expected to fall in East Cork with 30mm expected across the rest of the county.
Dublin Airport says operations are going well this afternoon.
It’s advising any passengers heading there to take care on the roads, and to get to the airport in plenty of time for their for their flight, and to check the status of it, in the event of possible changes through the day.
DAA is not expecting major disruption.