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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Cormac O'Shea

Met Eireann warn 13 counties of dangerous four-hour weather period - and could a hurricane be on the way?

Met Eireann's orange warning will last for four-hours in the early-hours of Sunday morning with dangerous levels of rainfall expected.

The forecaster is predicting "intense" rainfall of up to 50mm between 4am and 8am for Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath, Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo and Waterford.

A status yellow rainfall for the entire country will come into effect at 1am and last until 10am.

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The forecaster said: "Heavy rain will move northwards across much of the country tonight, clearing from the north and northwest on Sunday morning.

"Some torrential downpours are expected in parts, resulting in surface flooding. There is also the potential for thunderstorm activity and lightning strikes."

And the next period of bad weather is already being watched as Hurricane Danielle is currently hovering in the middle of the Atlantic and could move towards Ireland within days.

Rain (Collins Photos)

Its current path is uncertain with some weather models showing it curving towards Greenland, while others show its remnants heading towards western Europe.

The latter would mean it could blast Ireland with some very wet and windy weather within days.

A Met Office spokesperson told the Express that it’s expected to remain in the Atlantic over the next five days, with “a lot of uncertainty” around its track beyond that.

Grahame Madge said: “Meteorologists will be watching the development of Danielle over the next few days.

"At this lead time there can’t be much certainty about any potential track into the North Atlantic and even less about how it could modify weather patterns nearer to the UK.

“When hurricanes enter the North Atlantic they decay very quickly and their main influence is modifying weather patterns rather than retaining their own identity. If Danielle ventures closer to our shores then her effects could include increased swell.

"The warmth and moisture that ex-hurricanes bring into the Atlantic can modify our own home-grown weather patterns, adding to wind strengths and rainfall.”

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