After heavy rain and serious flooding, particularly in the west, the forecast is for more wild weather with strong winds and rain in the run-up to Christmas. There is little prospect of a white Christmas. Christmas Day will be cold and windy, but not spectacularly so, a Met Eireann spokesman said. Parts of the north and west will have windy showers later in the day.
Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent, writes: Units of Galway Fire Brigade were stretched to the limit over the past 48 hours as heavy rain caused flooding in various parts of the county.
Tuam, Ballinasloe, Athenry, Mountbellew and Loughrea were the areas most seriously affected by flash flooding, and the village of Kilconnell, near Ballinasloe, had serious flooding and pollution problems. Officials of Galway County Council visited the village yesterday after reports that raw sewage was running down the main street from early yesterday morning.
"They are all here now, but it is a disgrace. We have been asking for 20 years for a proper sewerage system," Ms Colette Neary told The Irish Times. She had been up since just after midnight when a "river" of water flooded her house.
Ms Neary paid tribute to her neighbours, who got out of bed in the small hours to go to her assistance along with Galway Fire Brigade. "We haven't been able to drink the water here for the past 12 months anyway because of the risk of E.coli, and we certainly can't do so now," she said. "We have septic tanks here, and it is time the county council started to listen to us."
Theresa Judge, North-West Correspondent, writes: Heavy overnight rain forced the cancellation of the early Sligo to Dublin train yesterday because of flooding on the line at Magheraboy Bridge in Co Sligo. An alternative bus service was provided.
A number of roads in Sligo were impassable yesterday morning, particularly in the Strandhill Road area, and the village of Ballisodare was badly affected. In north Co Leitrim, there was heavy flooding between Ballintrillick and Kinlough.
The worst-affected area in Co Donegal was Lifford, where a number of houses were flooded when drains overflowed. Firemen used pumps to clear the houses on Coneyburrow Road. Residents said the same problem occurred two years ago, and called on the county council to take urgent action.
There were diversions on a number of routes around the county, with the Finn Valley and Lagan Valley areas worst hit.
Barry Roche, in Cork, reports: The south-west was last night bracing itself for a further day of heavy rain and possible flooding as water levels remained high amid predictions of further storms hitting the west coast today. Kerry was badly hit by yesterday's heavy rain, with the Cork-Killarney Road heavily flooded for half a mile at Meenish, outside Killarney, until yesterday afternoon. According to Mr Colm Mangan, a senior engineer with Kerry County Council, a number of roads were badly hit after almost 32 mm of rain fell between 6 p.m. on Tuesday and 6 a.m. yesterday.
Among the areas affected were Ballyheigue in north Cork, Ventry and Faha on the Dingle Peninsula, Waterville in south Kerry and a number of minor roads around Tralee. Although there were no major landslides, as happened earlier this month on the Caherciveen Road and at Annascaul, the heavy rain was having a damaging effect on the roads, Mr Mangan said.
"We had about 125 men out from before dawn yesterday clearing water off roads, but heavy rain does damage the roads. It causes them to unravel and we're really at the pin of our collar to maintain our county roads in proper condition.
"We've had nearly continuous rain for the past two weeks, which means the water table is very high, so when we do get heavy rain the water has nowhere to go - it's just topping up the water table and lodging," he said.
Meanwhile, in north Cork, Mallow and Fermoy were bracing themselves for further flooding after heavy rain swelled the Blackwater, causing it to burst its banks in several places. In Mallow, Park Road was closed to traffic for virtually the entire day as river water flooded the park and covered the road to depths of five and six feet. The Mallow-Killarney road was flooded at Longueville. However, unlike last December's floods, which caused millions of pounds worth of damage in both Mallow and Fermoy, yesterday's floods in Mallow damaged no premises. Fermoy also was hoping to escape damage to homes or business premises.
Today will see strong winds and rain, according to Met Eireann. There will be "some pretty violent gusts" from late this morning to early tonight, a spokesman said. Some gusts will reach up to 80 m.p.h. A band of rain will cross the country, starting in the west this morning. It will clear this evening but will be followed by showers.
Tomorrow will be wet and "fairly breezy".