THUNDERSTORM WARNING: Kildare among counties added to Status Orange rain and hail warning by Met Éireann

Kildare is among 14 counties included under a new Status Orange rain and hail warning by the State forecast service.

According to Met Éireann, thunderstorm activity can be expected in the province of Munster, as well as the counties of Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Kildare, Wicklow and Dublin.

The organisation added: "Due to the sporadic nature of development, not all areas will be affected.

"Heavy downpours of rain and hail will occur in places.

"Flooding where heavy downpours occur."

The warning will remain valid until 10pm tonight. 

A number of areas across Ireland have already been affected by the thunderstorm.

One of the worst affected areas was Castlerea in County Roscommon where 20mms of rain (almost one inch) fell in just a half-an-hour, causing flash flooding in the town, according to The Irish Times.

The publication also reported that Carron in County Clare also got 20mm in less than one hour.

Power outages also occurred in some regions, the largest one being an outage in Castlecomer, County Kilkenny, where 5,000 customers lost power at 5am this morning.

A spokesperson for the ESB said that power was fully restored by 6.30am.