- Dublin’s weather warning has been reduced to status yellow at 9am
- Wicklow and Waterford’s orange weather warnings are no longer in effect
- Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Wexford and Tipperary’s yellow alert is also no longer in effect
- Louth’s status orange warning expires at 12pm
- Cavan, Monaghan and Meath’s status yellow warning expires at 12pm
- Antrim, Armagh, Down, Tyrone and Derry are under status yellow rain warnings issued by the UK Met Office until 11.59pm Friday
- Iarnród Éireann has said some of their services have resumed, with rail services in a “better situation” than yesterday
Dublin weather warning reduced to Yellow
Dublin’s weather warning has been changed to a yellow instead of orange level for rainfall, according to the latest update from Met Éireann.
Impacts of rainfall won’t be known until later today or tomorrow, and those travelling to work advised to “slow down”
While rainfall overnight was not “quite as heavy” as predicted, conditions will be “difficult” on Friday and effects in some areas might not be felt for some time, according to the chairman of the National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG).
“We’re hopeful that we might get away today without too much damage to property, but I think you’ll see roads flooded and, particularly along those coastal areas, I think you’re going to see more coastal overtopping throughout today and tomorrow,” Keith Leonard told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland.
“Unfortunately, we have the coincidence of very high tides, surface flooding and very high river levels.”
He added that rainfall over the Wicklow Mountains will flow into South Dublin, Co Kildare and Co Wexford over the next 24 or 48 hours, saying: “We won’t really know the impacts until later today or early tomorrow.”
“We’re on full alert right throughout the weekend. Rainfall will be much lower throughout the weekend, thankfully, but that lag will continue to have an effect across the weekend,” he said, adding that more rainfall is expected on Monday and Tuesday.
Noting that the NECG is meeting at noon today, he said the key focus will be restoring public transport while also ascertaining if there has been damage to properties overnight.
Leonard advised those attending work on Friday morning to “slow down”, and to avoid driving through flooded water, saying “every day this week, we’ve had to rescue people from trapped cars”.
“They’re dangerous and it causes a lot of stress for people when that happens.”
Employers urged to afford “understanding” for employees unable to travel due to the weather
Employers who insist on employees travelling to work during weather warnings could be liable for any harm caused, according to a human resources professional.
Damien McCarthy, founder and chief executive of consultancy firm HR Buddy, told the programme there is a “duty of care” for employers, which involves travel to and from work during extreme weather events.
“This morning, for example, public transport has been impacted. So if you’re forcing employees to travel in these kinds of weather conditions, putting them at risk, yes the employer can be liable,” he said.
McCarthy added that while there is no statutory legal requirement for employers to pay workers who do not attend work during extreme weather events, he urged employers to afford “understanding and compassion”.
Timings for weather warnings across the country
The end of orange and yellow warnings for rain have been brought forward. The updated list of warning times is as follows:
Orange
- Dublin, Wicklow, Waterford: warning valid to 9am Friday
- Louth: warning valid to midday Friday
Yellow
- Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Wexford, Tipperary: warning valid to until 9am Friday
- Cavan, Monaghan, Meath: warning valid to midday Friday
- Antrim, Armagh, Down, Tyrone, Derry: warning valid to midnight Friday
Rail services are in a “better situation” than yesterday, according to an Irish Rail spokeswoman, with full services expected to resume on Friday.
Jane Cregan said water has receded on some lines that experienced “very bad flooding” on Thursday.
Dart services are now operating between Greystones and Howth after flooding abated, she said, though there are “minor delays” to services on the line.
The line between Greystones and Wicklow, meanwhile, is closed due to debris and flooding on the line, with a bus transfer operating on the route.
“We’re in a better situation than we were yesterday, but we do still have some minor impacts,” she said, speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland.
Weather warnings are to finish early as rain is moving north “quicker than anticipated”, according to meterologist Mark Bowe.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland, Bowe said that while this signifies the end of “persistent and heavy rain”, localised and river flooding impacts “will still persist” after the warnings cease.
Parts of Louth experienced the heaviest rainfall overnight, he said.
“We certainly saw some very heavy rain right across parts of the east in the Wicklow Mountains, and certainly parts of the northeast around Louth,” he said, adding that it “started to taper off” overnight.
Iarnród Éireann has said some of their services have resumed, including DARTs between Greystones and Clongriffin, in both directions. The Belfast and Northern Commuter is also resuming, albeit with “significant delays” expected.
Changes to weather warning timings by Met Éireann
Some of the weather warnings for various counties have been rolled back by a few hours in the latest update by Met Éireann on its website.
Dublin and Wicklow’s warnings have been changed to expire at 9am.
Louth now expires at 12pm as well as Cavan, Monaghan and Meath.
National Emergency Coordination Group due to meet at noon today
The National Emergency Coordination Group (NECG) urged people in Dublin, Louth, Wicklow and Waterford, all under orange rainfall warnings, to work from home on Friday if possible.
The NECG is due to meet again at noon on Friday. The meeting will also be attended by a humanitarian subgroup and a Liffey catchment area subgroup.
Local authorities said yesterday that they had made sandbags available to homes and businesses most at risk of flooding.
South Dublin County Council reports that its crews were continuing to monitor river levels overnight, with river levels remaining high and rain falling on saturated ground.
More transport disruption
A number of Bus Éireann routes have been cancelled.
There are cancellations on Route NX from Dublin to Navan and Navan to Dublin, Route 109X from Dublin to Cavan and Cavan to Dublin, Route 109 from Kells to Dublin, and Route 115 from Dublin to Enfield and Enfield to Dublin.
The operator apologised for any inconvenience and urged passengers to check its website and social media channels for further information and updates.
A number of train and DART services have been suspended due to the weather conditions and flooding. Bus transfers are available, and Iarnród Éireann is reminding people that LEAP cards are valid on all TFI services in the affected areas.
Services currently cancelled:
- 05:35 Rosslare/Connolly, bus transfers to Connolly
- 05:45 Gorey/Connolly, bus transfers to Connolly
- 07:10 Rosslare/Connolly will operate to Wicklow, bus transfers from Wicklow to Connolly
Additionally, the Malahide to Howth Junction DART and Northern Commuter are suspended due to a mechanical fault with a maintenance vehicle, which Iarnród Éireann are working to rectify. Bus transfers available from Rosslare / Gorey to Wicklow / Bray, with debris and flooding on line.
Met Éireann updated weather forecast
Met Éireann’s latest forecast, updated at 5am this morning, says it will be a very wet, cloudy and blustery morning, with rain continuing to spread north.
Rain is expected to be heaviest in the east and northeast with the continued risk of flooding.
It will stay rather overcast into the afternoon as the rain becomes confined to Ulster and scattered showers follow in from the south, the forecaster said.
The forecast shows it’s due to stay cloudy and rather wet with scattered showers into the night, with showers will at their heaviest and most persistent across Munster. There’ll be asterly breezes and lows of 3 to 6 degrees with some mist patches forming overnight too.
