{"id":303936,"date":"2026-02-18T08:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/303936\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T08:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:15:09","slug":"met-eireann-forecasts-relentless-rainfall-in-parts-of-the-country-with-warnings-for-snow-wind-and-rain-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/303936\/","title":{"rendered":"Met \u00c9ireann forecasts \u2018relentless\u2019 rainfall in parts of the country with warnings for snow, wind and rain \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Main pointsMet \u00c9ireann<\/a> status-yellow warning are in place for 18 counties on Wednesday.A yellow rain warning \u2013 for Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Cork, Tipperary and Waterford \u2013 came into effect at 11pm on Tuesday and runs until 11pm on Wednesday.Separately, a status yellow wind warning is in place for counties Wexford, Wicklow, Dublin, Meath and Louth until 1pm. Another separate yellow snow and ice warning is in place for Donegal until 2pm.The Met Office has issued a rain and snow warning for Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry. This is valid until 8pm on Wednesday<\/p>\n

Katie Mellett – 36 minutes ago<\/p>\n

\u2018Conditions aren\u2019t going to be great\u2019\"AA yellow rain warning is in place for 17 counties across Ireland. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

Rebecca Cantwell, meteorologist with Met \u00c9ireann, has warned of the high risk of flooding in eastern areas today with outbreaks of rainfall forecast all day until 11pm, reports Vivienne Clarke.<\/p>\n

Speaking on both Newstalk Breakfast and RT\u00c9 radio\u2019s Morning Ireland, Cantwell said the combination of rain, high winds and high tides on the east coast means the risk of tidal flooding along the east coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cConditions aren\u2019t going to be great,\u201d she said about areas surrounding the Comeragh Mountains and Wicklow Mountains where run-off will pose risks of flooding.<\/p>\n

A cold air front also means that rain in the northwest could fall as sleet or snow.<\/p>\n

The outlook will remain unsettled until the weekend when \u201cthere will be a little bit of respite\u201d and temperatures could rise from 10 degrees to 13 degrees.<\/p>\n

The ongoing rain is as a result of a low pressure system in the Atlantic that \u201ccontinues to dominate\u201d, she explained. <\/p>\n

So far rainfall in the east in February has been 200 per cent of the average while in the west it is only 34 per cent.<\/p>\n

Katie Mellett – 1 hour ago<\/p>\n

Kerry\u2019s Valentia Observatory saw rain every day of 2026<\/p>\n

One observatory saw rain every day so far this year, according to data from Met \u00c9ireann.<\/p>\n

The national forecaster\u2019s data shows it rained for each of the last 47 days, from January 1st to February 16th, at Valentia Observatory in Co Kerry<\/a>, reports Sarah Burns.<\/p>\n

A \u201crain day\u201d is defined by the forecaster as one where 0.1mm or more of rainfall is recorded at some point during the day.<\/p>\n

The total rainfall accumulated at Valentia so far this year is 281.9mm, with individual days ranging from 21.8mm on January 27th to just 0.1mm on January 23rd.<\/p>\n

Katie Mellett – 1 hour ago<\/p>\n

France issues red flooding alerts<\/p>\n

France has issued red alerts for flooding in three departments as the aftermath of Storm Nils causes chaos across the country.<\/p>\n

Flood waters have inundated homes and isolated villages after the Garonne River overflowed its banks, with hydrologists warning that rain is falling on soils that have hit record-breaking levels of saturation.<\/p>\n

M\u00e9t\u00e9o France said red flood alerts would remain in place on Wednesday in Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne and Maine-et-Loire but the number of counties under orange alert would fall from 14 to 12.<\/p>\n

Monique Barbut, minister for the ecological transition, said a state of emergency \u2013 necessary to fast-track insurance claims \u2013 would be declared once the floods had ended.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s floods come after a series of storms have battered Portugal and Spain, leaving at least 16 dead and forcing thousands to flee their homes. – Guardian<\/p>\n

Katie Mellett – 1 hour ago<\/p>\n

Fire and emergency body issues advice<\/p>\n

The National Directorate for Fire & Emergency Management (NDFEM) convened a meeting on Tuesday with local authorities, Met \u00c9ireann, relevant Government departments, State agencies and utility providers to prepare for the incoming heavy rain and associated flooding risk.<\/p>\n

Flooding is a risk across the country due to the current conditions, it said in a statement. Whether or not a yellow rain warning is in place for a county, all areas will remain at risk of flooding.<\/p>\n

NDFEM reiterated advice to monitor forecasts and local authority channels; to avoid bypassing Road Closed signs or driving through floodwater; to allow for disruption while commuting; to check on the vulnerable; to stay away from riverbanks and coastal edges, and to stay away from fallen live wires.<\/p>\n

Katie Mellett – 1 hour ago<\/p>\n

Eastern half of the country will get the highest rainfall<\/p>\n

Met \u00c9ireann senior forecaster Gerry Murphy said there was another band of rain moving slowly up from the southwest across the country on Wednesday, reports Sarah Burns.<\/p>\n

Murphy said the eastern half of the country will get the highest rainfall, including in Carlow, Waterford, Kilkenny, Wicklow and north Louth.<\/p>\n

He said between 30 and 50mm of rainfall would be expected in counties with a yellow rain warning.<\/p>\n

Murphy said there was 114mm of rainfall in the Phoenix Park in Dublin over the past two weeks, which was \u201c450 per cent of its average\u201d for the first half of February.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe east of the country has got well above average rainfall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Belmullet in Co Mayo and Malin Head in Donegal have had below-average rainfall, but that will change \u201cover the coming week\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

Katie Mellett – 1 hour ago<\/p>\n

\"AA yellow rain warning is in place or 17 counties in Ireland. Picture: Enda O\u2019Dowd <\/p>\n

Siobh\u00e1n Ryan of Met \u00c9ireann, after detailing the weather warnings, said various impacts could be expected including river and coastal flooding and with surface water too, there was potential for difficult travelling conditions.<\/p>\n

There was also potential, she said on RT\u00c9\u2019s 9.30pm weather broadcast, for falling trees along the east coast with onshore winds.<\/p>\n

Rain across the eastern half of the country would be very heavy and persistent at times \u201cwith high winds coupled with storm surge and high spring tides leading to the potential for that flooding\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a Tuesday night forecast, she added the rain across the eastern half of the country would be \u201crelentless\u201d.<\/p>\n

Katie Mellett – 1 hour ago<\/p>\n

Weather warnings in place\"FloodFlood barriers were erected along Eden quay in Dublin as high tide and persistent rain led to safety concerns. Image: Enda O\u2019Dowd <\/p>\n

A yellow wind warning is in place for Wexford, Wicklow, Dublin, Meath and Louth until 1pm this afternoon. Met \u00c9ireann said strong and gusty southeasterly winds combined with high tides may lead to wave overtopping, fallen trees, loose debris and difficult travelling conditions.<\/p>\n

A yellow rain warning has been issued for Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Cork, Tipperary and Waterford and is valid until 11pm tonight. The national forecaster said rain falling on already saturated ground combined with high river levels will lead to flooding, poor visibility and difficult travelling conditions.<\/p>\n

Donegal has been issued with a rain\/snow warning valid until 2pm this afternoon. Rain will be heavy at times and turn to sleet or snow, which together with strengthening winds will lead to poor visibility and difficult travelling conditions.<\/p>\n

A yellow rain and snow warning has also been issued to Northern Irish counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry until 8pm this evening. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Main pointsMet \u00c9ireann status-yellow warning are in place for 18 counties on Wednesday.A yellow rain warning \u2013 for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,1191,43,40,38,41,39,15950],"class_list":{"0":"post-303936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-met-eireann","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories","15":"tag-weather-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}