Ireland weather: Very concerning rainfall to continue into the weekend with 'significant' flood risk
Further rainfall is concerning forecasters, as more flooding is possible in already flood-impacted areas.Ireland can expect yet more rain over the next 48 hours, and into the weekend. One forecaster said to treat the weather "as if it is a higher level weather warning due to the fact that we are going to see a significant amount of rain falling on top of already saturated ground, on top of already high rivers that have already flooded so we're likely to see an exacerbation of those conditions as we go through the course of the next 48 hours."A Status Yellow rain warning has been issued for Carlow, Dublin, Kilkenny, Louth, Wexford, Wicklow and Waterford and will be valid from 9am on Friday until 12am on Saturday. Met Éireann warned of the potential for further heavy rain and showers to fall on saturated ground and this, combined with high river levels, will likely lead to localised flooding, river flooding and difficult travel conditions.Cathal Nolan of Irelands Weather Channel said that more "heavy spells" of rain over the next two days. "It's been the case for the last couple of weeks now and unfortunately it is said to continue into the weekend as well.""We are obviously very concerned about that given the extent of the flooding that we've seen over the last five days or so in particular. But when we take a look into tomorrow's chart, it's a similar picture again. And we see another area of low pressure. This small little feature here perhaps bringing even heavier spells of rain than what we're experiencing today already in parts of the south east and east.""I know we're focusing quite a lot on that region at the moment, it's understandable given the extent of the flooding and the concerns with regards to the amount of water there. Elsewhere there will be outbreaks of rain though not quite as heavy and not quite persistent. It's unfortunately that south east area."He said that 80-90 millimetres of rainfall is possible on higher ground in Wicklow. Anywhere from 25-40 millimetres of rain could be seen in the southeast."But over the high ground, we're talking 50, potentially 80 millimetres of rainfall. That is certainly not welcome. It will lead to further significant flooding in the area and please do pay attention to the forecasts over the next while."Met Eireann said that due to the rainfall the country has experienced recently, further flooding is a possibility."Given recent rainfall, river levels and antecedent conditions, further flooding is possible in places over the coming days. Currently, rainfall warnings have been issued for today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday). While there are some uncertainties in the weather forecast, especially for Friday, rainfall amounts that could be below warning thresholds may be enough to result in large impacts," they said."At the moment, rainfall warnings are in effect for today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday) for southeastern, northeastern and eastern areas. Many rivers in the southeast, east, and northeast are at or above bank-full levels, and river levels are generally high in other areas. Soils are saturated and waterlogged in many areas, with little improvement in soil conditions forecast in the coming days. Any additional rainfall, particularly in southeastern, northeastern, and eastern areas, could cause further river flooding. Fast-responding and upland catchments are most at risk."Given the uncertainties for Friday, there is a range of possible rainfall accumulations but ensemble forecasts are a way to give overall guidance by looking at the mean or average amounts of predicted rainfall. It is important to note that due to the figures above being an average of ensemble members, there is the potential for higher or lower rainfall amounts.""A secondary developing depression is forecast to track near to the country on Friday but there has been a huge amount of uncertainty with the track of this system and by extension, the associated rainfall that can be expected with it."A Status Yellow rain warning has also been issued by the UK Met Office for Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry on Wednesday, will also come into effect from 12am on Friday until 6pm that evening. Spells of heavy rain are expected, leading to some transport disruption and flooding in places.Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content.We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice .For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.
