Northern Ireland Met Office rain warning issued as up to 30mm expected to fall in hours

The Met Office highlighted the areas where rain is set to be heaviest

A yellow weather warning for rain has been issued for Northern Ireland, with heavy rainfall to be expected this weekend.

The Met Office said the warning, in place from midnight until 12pm on Sunday, October 19, will see widespread rainfall of up to 30mm. The warning is in place across Northern Ireland, but the heaviest rainfall is expected in southeastern regions.

A spokesperson for the Met Office said: “Heavy rain affecting Northern Ireland on Saturday night and Sunday morning may cause some impacts.”

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Providing further detail, they added: “Heavy rain will spread across the whole of Northern Ireland on Saturday night, gradually clearing to the east on Sunday morning.

“The rain will be heaviest in the southeast, covered by the warning area, where 20-30 mm is expected to accumulate widely. Over the Mournes 60-100 mm could build up, much of this falling in the early hours of Sunday morning.”

Ahead of the weather warning, Friday is set to stay mostly dry with “patchy light rain appearing across southern districts.” There will be brighter spells for the afternoon, with southeast breezes. Temperatures will reach a high of 14 C.

For Friday night, the weather forecaster said: “The majority will stay dry with only a few light showers around the coasts. Best of the limited cloud breaks expected during the evening Minimum temperature 10 C.”

Looking ahead to Saturday, the Met Office added: “Rather cloudy but dry by day. Cloud thickening to bring patchy rain to western districts by early evening, which sweeps across all for the evening. South to southeast winds increasing. Maximum temperature 14 C.”

Met Office advice on what to expect during warning:

• Bus and train services probably affected with journey times taking longer
• Spray and flooding on roads probably making journey times longer
• Flooding of a few homes and businesses is likely
• Some interruption to power supplies and other services likely

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