OIREACHTAS COMMITTEE:LARGE PARTS of the country experienced rainfall in November that should normally only occur once every 500 years, new figures from Met Éireann reveal.

Weather stations in Clare, towns including Ballinasloe and Gort in Co Galway, Boyle and Frenchpark in Co Roscommon, and Drumshanbo in Co Leitrim were among the places that experienced unprecedented levels of rainfall over a 25-day period from November 1st to November 26th.

Appearing in front of the Oireachtas Environment Committee yesterday, Met Éireann’s head of climatology and observation division Liam Keegan said the rainfall in November had been “extraordinary” not just in its intensity but in the number of places it affected.

Maps produced by Met Éireann of rainfall figures reveal that parts of Clare, Galway, Tipperary and Laois recorded nearly four times the normal rainfall for November, although the highest rainfall was recorded in Co Kerry.

Met Éireann’s head of research and applications division Ray McGrath said the wet weather of recent years was “suggestive” that our weather was getting wetter because of climate change.

However, he said there needed to be much more research done to ensure that the last three wet years were not a statistical blip.

He said Met Éireann hoped to be in a position to give a stronger indication about the effects of climate change on Irish weather either this year or next year.

Met Éireann’s head of forecasting Gerald Fleming said he was satisfied that they had given sufficient warnings before the ESB opened the Inniscarra dam on the night of November 19th, flooding large parts of the Lee valley.

He said conditions were so bad at the time nationwide that Met Éireann had issued a “long litany of warnings”.

He revealed that Met Éireann would now be moving to a coloured weather warning system consisting of orange, yellow and red.