Heavy rain and gale force winds are expected across large parts of the country as Storm Deirdre sweeps in for one of the last big shopping days before Christmas. Santa (Shaun Kearon) gets caught in the heavy rain and wind as he made his way to meet all the children at Murrisck community centre near Westport on Thursday. Met Éireann named an area of westwards-moving low pressure Storm Deirdre last night. It has issued a Status Orange wind alert for the entirety of Ireland, warning of "disruptive and damaging gusts" of up 130km/h and persistent and heavy rain. The rain will clear to showers overnight, with the winds abating and temperatures dropping, leading to frost in some areas.

Source: Evening echo December 15, 2018 07:18 UTC