Alert: Rain warning issued for Limerick with a threat of localised flooding

A STATUS yellow rain warning has been issued for Limerick and Clare and eight other counties across the country.

The Met Éireann warning, which also applies to Kerry, Cork, Tipperary, Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Laois and Wexford, will come into effect at 6pm on Thursday and will remain in place until 6am on Friday.

"Persistent Rainfall may cause localised flooding," states the warning.

Motorists are being urged to exercise caution if driving when the warnings are in place.

Separately, a small crafts warning is also in place for all Irish coasts as the weather takes a turn for the worse, after an unusually hot spell in recent days during which heat alert warnings were issued as temperatures reached 26 degrees at times.