Flash Flood Watch in effect for eastern parishes and St Catherine

A Flash Flood Watch is now in effect for low-lying and flood prone areas of St Mary, Portland, St Thomas, Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine.

The Meteorological Service, which issued the bulletin this evening, said the watch will remain in effect until 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

It explained that a broad trough, currently located across the central Caribbean, is producing a large area of cloudiness with showers and thunderstorms, and is expected to linger across the region through to Friday.

It added that a pre-frontal trough is expected to move into the region by Wednesday and interact with the broad trough resulting in greater instability across the area, especially on Wednesday and Thursday.

"The forecast is for mostly cloudy conditions with periods of showers and thunderstorms, which could be heavy at times, to continue affecting mainly eastern and central parishes through to Friday, especially during the afternoons and continuing into the nights. Additionally, gusty winds are expected to affect the island beginning on Thursday," the Met Service said.

The Met Service says due to persistent rainfall across eastern parishes and St Catherine over the past few days, and the likely soil saturation, any additional rainfall could result in flash flooding and possible landslides.

Follow The Gleaner on X and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.