{"id":281848,"date":"2026-02-05T09:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T09:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/281848\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T09:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T09:25:09","slug":"orange-and-yellow-rain-warnings-in-place-across-12-counties-as-met-eireann-warns-of-flooding-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/281848\/","title":{"rendered":"Orange and yellow rain warnings in place across 12 counties as Met \u00c9ireann warns of flooding \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Main pointsMet \u00c9ireann<\/a> have issued rain warnings for 12 counties today. In Dublin<\/a>, Wicklow<\/a> and Waterford<\/a> orange warnings are in effect, while yellow warnings will be in place for Carlow<\/a>, Cavan<\/a>, Kildare<\/a>, Kilkenny<\/a>, Laois<\/a>, Louth<\/a>, Wexford<\/a>, Monaghan<\/a> and Tipperary<\/a>.Several rivers including the Liffey, the Nore, the Barrow and the Slaney already have very high water levels and these are expected to rise further on Wednesday and Thursday.Wexford County Council says it has been monitoring the tide throughout the night<\/p>\n

Sarah Burns – 0 minutes ago<\/p>\n

Irish Rail has said some services through Connolly station in Dublin may experience delays of around 10 minutes this morning due to congestion on the network through the city centre. <\/p>\n

Sarah Burns – 31 minutes ago<\/p>\n

Waterford County Council says it has concerns about road flooding <\/p>\n

Gabriel Hines, director of services at Waterford City and County Council, said there are barriers in place at Passage East and Waterford City which are \u201cworking effectively\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn Dungarvan, in our coastal car parks, some flooding there but we had closed them overnight so we\u2019ve no significant issues there either,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLater in the day our difficulty will be similar to Wicklow. We\u2019re going to get significant rainfall, particularly in the Comeragh Mountains. Again, saturated ground, swollen rivers. Again similar to Wicklow, we\u2019re expecting localised spot flooding on our road network.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could get some streams overflowing and some river flooding. We would have significant concern in relation to road flooding, in the rivers in particular, feeding off the Comeragh mountains, where we predicted very high intensity rainfall. I think the rivers that are coming from the Comeragh Mountains will be the ones that we could get spot flooding on the local network today. <\/p>\n

\u201cHaving said that, given the saturated grounds, anywhere we get a high rainfall intensity today, there\u2019s a possibility of the small streams overflowing causing localised spot flooding on the road network. When you\u2019re driving, slow down, expect water on the road network, allow extra time for your journey, extra stopping site distance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Burns – 33 minutes ago<\/p>\n

Wicklow County Council says it is preparing for flooding <\/p>\n

Michael Flynn, senior engineer with Wicklow County Council, said its crews are all \u201con alert\u201d and preparing for flooding. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been working over the last number of days clearing debris from the last flood event and getting in place measures such as deploying sandbags to areas prone to flooding,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got all our crews ready and available to assist as and where necessary. The areas that traditionally have been prone to flooding have been Aughrim, which had the flooding event last week. Arklow again with the combination of river flooding but we also have high tides and significant onshore winds so the entire coastal regions again we have crews on standby in those locations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been very significant damage to our road network, structural damage. So we have road closures in place across the county and we would urge people, if they are making journeys, to check the weather conditions and also check on our social media platforms for notifications of those closures. Above all, we would ask people to heed the warning signs. Those road closures are in place to protect the public from the hazards that exist on those sections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah Burns – 48 minutes ago<\/p>\n

Dublin City Council monitoring river levels and coastal conditions closely<\/p>\n

Dublin City Council said its flood management team is continuing to respond to \u201congoing adverse weather conditions and related impacts\u201d.<\/p>\n

The local authority is monitoring river levels and coastal conditions closely, to ensure appropriate responses as required, it said. <\/p>\n

\u201cDublin City Council are in regular contact with the National Emergency Coordination Group on all aspects of recent weather events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carparks along coasts at Sandymount and Clontarf remain closed to protect against possible wave overtopping. The cycle lane at Clontarf will remain closed as a precautionary measure.<\/p>\n

Eden Quay boardwalk will also remain closed as a precautionary measure. The flood gates along the River Dodder will remain closed until further notice. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur crews remain active across the city, making arrangements for possible events and responding to issues as they arise,\u201d it added. <\/p>\n

\u201cCrews removal of debris at rivers racks and blockage clearing is ongoing to minimise negative impacts.\u201d <\/p>\n

The council said it maintains a limited supply of sandbags at strategic locations for use in response to identified flooding risks. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese resources are deployed by the council where required, with priority given to critical infrastructure and locations assessed as being at immediate risk.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"RainRain in Dublin City centre on Tuesday.
\nPhotograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \/ The Irish Times<\/p>\n

Parts of Dublin will be most at risk of flooding, says forecaster <\/p>\n

Weather warnings for Dublin will be yellow from 9am to 12 noon on Thursday after which they will be orange until midday on Friday, senior Met \u00c9ireann forecaster Gerry Murphy has said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is because the higher impacts will occur from noon onwards,\u201d he told RT\u00c9 radio\u2019s Morning Ireland, Vivienne Clarke reports. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow the reason Dublin has been added in is because with Wicklow it was always considered that there would be very high totals in the mountainous higher levels which would then activate responses in quick responding rivers, which would then have a knock-on effect further at lower levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it does look like those higher totals are going to extend not only to Wicklow, but also into south Dublin as well. So the higher regions, the Dublin Mountains and parts of Dublin that have flooded recently will also be the most at risk of flooding over the next 24 to 36 hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really the southern half of Dublin that this orange warning refers to simply because the higher ground is in south Dublin in conjunction with the Wicklow Mountains so those impacts that may occur with Wicklow, south Dublin mountains may have a knock-on effect at lower levels over the southern half of Dublin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy acknowledged that not all the areas impacted last week will experience the same conditions on Thursday and Friday. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt may not affect all of them in the same way but nonetheless those are the areas that will be most at risk of flooding and I must say as well people should be aware that this is actually going to be a lot of consistent persistent rain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rain will start off around mid-morning and it\u2019s really going to continue right the way through the rest of today, right the way through tonight and right up until tomorrow afternoon. So it\u2019s going to be very wet really. It may not be raining heavily all of the time but it will be very wet really from mid- morning right the way through to tomorrow afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be steady rain, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, but at the higher levels in the Wicklow Mountains, Dublin Mountains, where the rainfall amounts will be higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SandymountSandymount strand in South Co Dublin where barriers were erected and sandbags located to combat the high tides on Tuesday and guard against flooding in the area. Photo: Bryan O\u2019Brien \/ The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Today will start off mainly dry. Rain developing in the SE early this morning & gradually spreading NW-wards to all areas by mid afternoon, heaviest the SE & E with flooding likely in places. Fresh easterly winds increasing strong to gale force along the E coast.
Highs of 5-10 C pic.twitter.com\/ItKGhslS1N<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Met \u00c9ireann (@MetEireann) February 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Wexford County Council says it has been monitoring the tide throughout the night <\/p>\n

The chief executive of Wexford County Council, Eddie Taaffe, has spoken of preparations by the local authority for the severe weather warnings for the east coast of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still about 2\u00bd hours away from a high tide in Wexford harbour,\u201d he told RT\u00c9\u2019s Morning Ireland, Vivienne Clarke reports. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been monitoring the tide throughout the night and the indications are at the moment that while we\u2019ll have a very, very high tide around nine o\u2019clock with a gale force eight, easterly wind pushing it into the harbour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose our estimate at this stage is that while we will have limited wave overtopping, that our defences will be able to cope with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re optimistic that we won\u2019t have extensive flooding in Wexford Town. So, it\u2019s looking reasonably good at this stage in the harbour.<\/p>\n

\u201cRiver levels in Enniscorthy have dropped steadily over the last number of days, but I suppose we are concerned given the level of rainfall that\u2019s predicted in the Wicklow Mountains over the next 24 hours. So we do remain on alert in Enniscorthy and we have additional temporary defences that we can bring into Enniscorthy and establish quite quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taaffe explained that an aqua dam is available, which is \u201cessentially a long, thin balloon that you pump up with water quite quickly and it protects from about a metre of water and they can be put up very quickly along areas that are prone to flooding\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we do have those available to us and we can roll those out quite quickly. We won\u2019t deploy them until later on until we see what happens to the river level in the Slaney over the next 24 to 48 hours,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

\"MetMet \u00c9ireann’s Gerry Murphy says rain in the Dublin mountains could have a kock-on effect at lower levels in the south of the city and county. Photograph: Enda O\u2019Dowd \u2018It is going to be a very, very wet day,\u2019 says Met \u00c9ireann<\/p>\n

Senior forecaster with Met \u00c9ireann Gerry Murphy has warned Thursday \u201cis going to be a very, very wet day\u201d, with rain continuing to fall until mid-afternoon on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be a lot of consistent, persistent rain\u201d he added, but the rain will arrive more slowly than anticipated, Vivienne Clarke reports. <\/p>\n

Speaking on both Newstalk Breakfast and RT\u00c9 radio\u2019s Morning Ireland, Murphy also cautioned that the rain, particularly in the Dublin mountains, is going to have a \u201cknock-on\u201d effect at lower levels in areas such as Shankill and Rathfarnham and other parts of south Co Dublin.<\/p>\n

This weather regime is going to continue on Thursday, Friday and over the weekend, with a further band next week, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce this rain does get started this morning it\u2019s actually going to continue right the way through the rest of the day overnight and through tomorrow morning as well. So there\u2019s going to be rain where basically it\u2019s just going to continue raining from once it starts mid-morning and then basically it\u2019s just rain, rain until maybe mid-afternoon tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy also pointed out that the timings of the warnings have been pushed back as the rain front is moving more slowly.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should check Met.ie<\/a> for exact timings on the warnings as they all have been pushed back by a few hours,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rainfall in the Wicklow Mountains will have the effect of \u201cactivating some very responsive rivers and streams in the mountains, which then will have a knock-on effect as it flows down to lower levels. But it does look like those heavier, those more significant high rainfall totals will also encroach into the Dublin mountains and parts of south Dublin.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause as has been well documented at this stage the river levels are very high, the tides are high, the ground is saturated so moderate amounts of rainfall can and probably will cause flooding in some places, but this is actually going to be a very wet day.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce this rain does get started this morning, it\u2019s actually going to continue right the way through the rest of the day overnight and through tomorrow morning as well. So there\u2019s going to be rain where basically it\u2019s just going to continue raining from once it starts mid-morning and then basically it\u2019s just rain, rain until maybe mid-afternoon tomorrow. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen it\u2019s a question of how much damage that causes with regard to flooding of rivers of of local areas, really across the east and southeast of the country, but those look like there will be the highest amounts pushing in over Co Waterford from about 9am that\u2019s why Waterford is in an orange warning as well. As I said, Wicklow and Dublin especially the higher ground but with the knock-on effects to lower levels across Wicklow, and especially the southern half of and then yellow level warnings extending on up then into Louth, Monaghan and Cavan as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BravingBraving the rain beside the Liffey in Dublin this week. Photograph: Enda O\u2019Dowd <\/p>\n

A number of status orange and yellow rainfall warnings have been issued for counties across the State, with heavy rain and flooding likely in parts, according to Met \u00c9ireann.<\/p>\n

The national forecaster issued a status orange alert for Waterford, where spells of heavy rain falling on saturated ground, combined with high river levels and tides, will lead to localised flooding, river flooding and difficult travel conditions. That alert is valid from 9am on Thursday for 24 hours.<\/p>\n

A second status orange alert affects counties Dublin and Wicklow, where heavy rain is also predicted to cause flooding and difficult travel conditions, is valid from noon on Thursday until noon on Friday. These counties are also under a status yellow weather warning, from 9am on Thursday until noon, when the orange alert begins.<\/p>\n

Status yellow rain warnings have been issued for counties Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Wexford and Tipperary, lasting for 24 hours from 9am on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Another status yellow warning, beginning at noon on Thursday, affects counties Cavan, Monaghan and Louth, and is in place until noon on Friday. <\/p>\n

Follow irishtimes.com<\/a> for updates throughout the day. <\/p>\n

\"EdenEden Quay in Dublin this week, where high tides and persistent rain led to flood barriers being erected. Photograph: Enda O\u2019Dowd