The met office issued a yellow warning over heavy rainfall and gale force winds between Thursday afternoon and Friday early morning.

The warning covers the period between 3 pm Thursday and 4 am Friday.

According to the alert, local showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected while the rain intensity may exceed 35mm per hour.

It added that gales westerly to north-westerly winds force 8 on the Beaufort scale may affect mainly the western and northern coastal areas.

“Be aware of debris being blown around,” it said.

The met office is calling on people to take extra care in exposed areas, like mountains, forest, and open terrain. Disruption to outdoor activities is possible from the rain and objects being blown over by the strong winds.