Hell or to Connacht: East hunkers down in rainfall deluge while west escapes 'another challenging phase'
Weather warnings have been issued for 18 counties across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, with the worst impacts projected for areas that were already severely affected by flooding in recent days. Affected counties are likely to experience more flooding during spells of further heavy rain on Thursday and Friday. Met Eireann said spells of “very heavy rain” will be falling on “already saturated ground”. This, combined with high river levels and high tides, is likely to lead to localised flooding and river flooding as well as difficult travel conditions. The National Emergency Co-ordination Group has warned of “another challenging phase”. In advance of the latest spell of heavy rain, local authority teams have been deploying sandbags, clearing drains and carrying out other flood prevention works. The Government has offered financial support for homes and businesses affected by recent flooding. Following recent rainfall, many rivers are at or above bank-full levels. Meanwhile, strong onshore winds and storm surge will increase the risk of wave overtopping and coastal flooding. A status orange rain warning for Waterford was put in place for between 9am on Thursday and 9am on Friday. A separate orange warning for Wicklow and Dublin will last from midday on Thursday to 3pm on Friday. This is on top of a yellow warning for the areas which started at 9am on Thursday and expires at noon on Friday. A third orange warning has been issued for Louth between midday on Thursday and 6pm on Friday. A separate status yellow warning for rain is also in place for Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Wexford and Tipperary from 9am on Thursday until 9am on Friday. Cavan, Meath and Monaghan are also under a status yellow warning for rain between midday on Thursday and 6pm on Friday. In Northern Ireland, the Met Office is warning that heavy rain may lead to some flooding and travel disruption. It has issued a yellow warning for rain between midday on Thursday and just before midnight on Friday. It said: “Rain is expected to be particularly persistent over the east and south east-facing slopes of the Mourne Mountains and Antrim Hills, which may receive 60-80mm; here low impacts are most likely overall with a small chance they could be medium.” The warning applies to counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Londonderry and Tyrone. Further rain is projected next week. Check out our photogallery here
