The country is set to be pummelled by heavy rain as weather chiefs have issued a rain alert for 19 counties.
And Met Eireann has predicted that patches of snow will arrive this weekend and continue into next week.
A status yellow rainfall warning for Connacht, Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Longford, Louth, Offaly, Westmeath, Meath, Clare, Tipperary, Dublin, Laois, Kildare and Wicklow issued today will come into effect from 8pm Sunday night until 8am on Monday morning.
A forecaster said: “Rain on Sunday night into Monday morning will lead to accumulations of between 20 to 25mm quite widely, with higher totals possible in upland areas.
“The rain is likely to be preceded by a period of snow in parts of Connacht, Ulster and north Leinster, before turning to rain later in the night.
“As the ground is saturated at the moment and river levels are elevated the combined effect of rainfall and snow melt may lead to some localised surface and river flooding.
“On Sunday night rain will become widespread, falling as sleet and snow in the north initially but turning to rain as the night goes on. Temperatures will be as low as zero or plus 1 degrees in the early part of the night in the north, but will rise to 10 or 11 degrees through the night as strengthening southeast winds veer southwest and bring milder air over the country.”
Thankfully the rain is expected to ease by Monday but forecasters have warned that strong winds will persist, particularly in the North.
He said: “Rain will clear early on Monday morning with showers following. The westerly winds will be very strong through Ulster with showers there turning wintry.
"The strong southwest to west winds will gradually ease by Monday evening.
"Day time temperatures of 7 to 9 degrees early on will fall quickly through the afternoon and will bottom out at plus 1 or 2 degrees overnight Monday night.
A yellow wind alert for Donegal is currently in place until 8pm tonight with winds set to reach reach mean speeds of 50 to 65 km/h, with gusts of 90 to 110 km/h possibly higher in exposed coastal areas.
