A status orange thunderstorm warning for the entire country has been issued by Met Éireann.
It is an upgrade from the previous yellow warning issued just this morning.
Storms with high temperatures and heavy rainfall can be expected.
The thunderstorm warning begins at 3pm today and will remain until 9am tomorrow for most parts, but continues for South Leinster and Munster until 4pm tomorrow.
Another hot day, especially in Munster & S Leinster, with highs of 24 to 30C🥵
A few isolated heavy showers or thunderstorms will develop throughout the day, they will gradually increase in coverage through the late afternoon & evening.⛈️
Crosses=thunderstorm activity pic.twitter.com/nbLYdG1WA1
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) August 14, 2022
Speaking to Newstalk, Met Eireann's Andrew Doran Sherlock said that the thunderstorms will hit quite sporadically so not everywhere will get hit:
"Every area is at risk but not every area will see it because they can be quite localised developments."
"One kilometer difference could dictate whether you're experiencing the heavy thunderstorm or you're not."
High temperatures
This development follows an existing yellow warning for high temperatures, which is in place for Leinster, Munster, Cavan, Monaghan, Galway and Roscommon until 6am tomorrow.
Today is set to be very warm with maximum temperatures generally of 27 to 30 degrees or locally higher.
It will be warm overnight with temperatures of at least 15 degrees.
Flooding
Earlier today, Alan O'Reilly from Carlow Weather said the thundery downpours may lead to spot flooding.
"It will get very heavy with humidity increasing and then those thunderstorms will kick off", he said.
"That could give way to some thundery downpours, which could unfortunately lead to some localised spot flooding."
Additional reporting by Tom Douglas
Main image shows a thunderstorm in Courtmacsherry in West Cork. Image: AG News/Alamy
