A Status Yellow rain warning has been issued for five Irish counties this weekend as hopes for a sunny Electric Picnic dwindle.

The biggest event of the summer events calendar takes place this weekend with some 80,000 set to descend on the fields of Stradbally, Co Laois.

Following on from a record-breaking summer of high temperatures, those who were hoping for more heatwave conditions this weekend will be sorely disappointed.

On Wednesday, Met Éireann issued a Status Yellow rain warning for Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow and Waterford.

The warning comes into effect from midday on Thursday and lasts until 3am on Friday.

The national forecaster warned of ‘spells of heavy rain with a possibility of thunderstorms.’

They added potential impacts included localised flooding, outdoor events impacted and difficult travelling conditions.

Wednesday is a continuation of the conditions earlier in the week, but a dull and damp start to the day and patchy outbreaks of rain, particularly in the north.

It will be warmest further west, with any lingering thundery showers clearing on Wednesday night.

Thursday gets underway dry but rain will move slowly across to eastern and southern counties, with unsettled rain and showers taking over for the remainder of the week.

Friday will see a mix of bright and sunny spells along with scattered showers, some of which will be heavy and thundery.

Temperatures will remain around 18 to 23 degrees on Friday, with the evening turning dry for a period before further wet weather moves southwest and up the south of the country.

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Electric Picnic. Pictured people at Electric Picnic this morning on a wet start to Day 2 . Pic: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Saturday will see further sunny spells and showers, while Sunday will be predominantly dull and wet with outbreaks of rain for much of the day.

Those heading to Electric Picnic will want to ensure they’ve stocked up on rain ponchos, and make sure they pack their wellie boots for the weekend of festivities.

With unprecedented rain hitting for the week, bookmakers Ladbrokes are odds on even for Electric Picnic 2026 to be the wettest on record.

‘Such is the time of the year, weather can never be guaranteed for EP and forecasts for this year’s edition suggest festivalgoers could be in for a record breaking downpour,’ they said.

Spokesperson Nicole McGeady said: ‘It’s all people can think about as they pack their cars for Stradbally, “How will the weather be this year?”

‘The outlook for the weekend looks like rain and this could be the wettest one on record.’