Latest: Met Éireann issues nationwide orange warning as Storm Deirdre approaches
Met Éireann has issued an orange warning for wind across Ireland for tomorrow.
Storm Deirdre will track northeast over Ireland on Saturday afternoon and evening.
It will bring wet and windy weather to all areas.
West or northwest winds will reach mean speeds of 65km/h with gusts of 100km/h generally.
"Disruptive and damaging gusts" of 130km/h are likely for a few hours in western and southern counties in the late afternoon.
They will move eastwards during the evening.
The warning is in place from 3pm until midnight on Saturday.
Earlier: 'Severe weather' to put a dampener on Christmas shopping and partying
Dublin Town is expecting a 20% drop in footfall across the city tomorrow due to the bad weather as Met Éireann has issued two new Status Yellow warnings for the country.
The warning for heavy rain and strong winds has forced Dublin Zoo to cancel its Wild Lights event again.
The night-time attraction will not open tomorrow for the health and safety of visitors and staff.
Affected customers will get an email with details of refunds.
Christmas shoppers are expected to make up for it on Sunday, when conditions are likely to improve.
However, anyone heading to a Christmas party tonight is being warned of very bad weather from midnight.
Met Éireann is advising shoppers and rugby fans heading to the Aviva tomorrow to watch Leinster in action to check updates as the bad weather approaches.
The forecaster has issued two Status Yellow warnings for the entire country and says there is potential 'severe weather' on the way with heavy rain and wind.
Heavy rain is expected, with 30 to 50mm set to accumulate, with some mountainous areas exceeding these limits.
Winds will be strongest in the east of the country tomorrow, with speeds of 55 to 60 km/h forecast. Later in the day, these winds will veer west to northwest, with severe gusts of 90 to 110 km/h.
Our Weekend Weather ☁️🌧️⛅️
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) December 14, 2018
Today: Cloudy with patchy rain & drizzle becoming persistent. 7 to 12°C
Saturday: Wet with heavy rain in all areas. Windy. 9 to 13°C
Sunday: Mostly dry. Sunny spells. Isolated showers. Cool. 5 to 7°Chttps://t.co/dz6JbE5FIb pic.twitter.com/JjcEnTMEkn
Conditions will get very wet and windy tonight, with heavy rain becoming widespread and winds reaching gale force in the east and south.
There will be a risk of spot flooding tomorrow as the heavy rain continues throughout the day.
'Severe and damaging gusts' are likely to hit Munster and Connacht, with winds also likely to remain very strong over the east.
Met Éireann says the rain will clear tomorrow night and it will become mostly dry by morning.
Temperatures are set to reach near freezing lows as the skies clear.
On Sunday, conditions will be mostly dry, with temperatures falling once again to between zero and three degrees overnight.
The unsettled conditions are expected to extend through to the midweek.
