Storm Amy is expected to bring torrential rainfall and strong winds over the next two days as the country reckons with its first named storm of the season.

Met Éireann has issued a Status Orange rain warning for Co Kerry, with the storm due to batter the west coast. The warning came into force at 6am today and will remain in place until 8pm.

A Status Yellow thunderstorm warning has also been extended to all counties in Connacht, where lightning damage is possible until 2pm.

Storm Amy will bring very ­difficult travel conditions and is expected to cause flooding in Kerry, with the potential for further localised flooding in other counties.

Schools across Kerry will ­decide at local level whether to postpone or delay opening times or school-bus operations given the weather forecast.

Gardaí have urged people to exercise extreme care due to the challenging conditions.

Status Yellow rain warnings are also now in place for Cavan, Donegal and Longford, as well as all of Munster and Connacht, and will run until 8pm today.

Separately, a wind warning in place for counties Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo has been upgraded to a Status Orange tomorrow from 2pm until 10pm due to "near gale force to gale force".

Fallen trees, damage to power lines and possible power outages, very difficult travelling conditions and possible wave overtopping are among the potential impacts.

The rest of the country will be under a Status Yellow wind warning from 12pm tomorrow until 12am on Saturday.

The latest track shows the centre of the front missing Ireland as it heads towards Scandinavia, but there are concerns that it will pass close enough to Ireland's north-west coast to ­bring damaging gale-force winds.

Friday will be a wet and very windy day

Motorists have been warned they could face challenging driving conditions including fallen trees, storm debris and localised flooding.

Met Éireann said the weather will be very unsettled over the coming days.

"Today will be wet and blustery with widespread heavy rain, possibly leading to localised flooding," a spokesperson said.

7-Day Weather Forecast: September 29th to October 5th

"Southerly winds will increase, fresh and gusty through the day, strong at times near coasts - with highest temperatures of 13C to 17C.

"Thursday night will see rain clear to the east followed by well-scattered showers and a few clear spells.

"Cloud will thicken in the west and south later, with patchy rain developing near south-west coasts by morning, with lowest temperatures of 9C to 12C.

"Friday will be a wet and very windy day, with heavy rain quickly spreading north-eastwards across the country through the morning.

There will be strong to near gale-force winds, and gusty south-westerly winds will ­develop as the rain spreads, with gales or strong gales possible on western and north-western coasts.

"Rain will clear eastwards to showers in the evening with highest temperatures of 15C to 19C."

"It will remain windy on ­Friday night, with heavy showers or longer spells of rain and strong to near gale-force winds, with gales on western coasts, though winds will veer westerly and decrease fresh to strong by morning.

"Saturday will be windy or ­blustery with strong and gusty westerly winds. It will be a brighter day though, with sunny spells and showers if somewhat cool with highest temperatures of 12C to 15C."

"It will be generally cloudy on Sunday, with scattered light showers and highest temperatures of 12C to 16C."