Orange weather warnings as Ireland told to brace for more heavy rain

Orange rain warnings will come into place for Wicklow and Waterford in the early hours of Thursday morning, Met Eireann has said.

The Irish meteorological office has said spring tides as well as heavy rain falling on saturated ground and swollen rivers will lead to localised flooding, river flooding along the entire course of rivers and difficult travel conditions.

Nine other counties will come under yellow rain warnings.

Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Louth, Wexford, Monaghan and Tipperary have also been told to expect more flooding.

Both the yellow and orange warnings will come into effect at 3am on Thursday and are expected to last until 3am on Friday.

Homes and businesses in a number of areas of the country were flooded in recent days after weeks of heavy rain.

On Wednesday, Tanaiste Simon Harris said the Government had taken a number of measures to help those affected.

He pointed to a decision announced on Tuesday to expand the Emergency Humanitarian Flooding Support scheme which helps small businesses and community, voluntary and sports organisations that have suffered damage.

The previous limit of 20,000 euro was expanded to 100,000 euro and the definition of a small business changed from companies with up from 20 workers to those with up to 50 employees.

Mr Harris also said a scheme to help homeowners had also been opened and that community welfare officers are in communities “engaging and trying to provide financial assistance”.

He said ministers have discussed what interim works can take place, but added he is a “big believer” in flood relief schemes, saying: “We’ve seen huge progress where they’ve been put in, in towns like Clonmel, Skibbereen, Clonakilty or Bandon.”

Next week will see “further engagement” about flood warning systems, Mr Harris said.

He added: “I think we’ll be very clearly seeing there’s a significant difference between the yellow and weather warning for rain when the rivers are low versus the yellow weather warning when the rivers are high.”

On Tuesday the National Emergency Co-ordination Group (NECG) warned the public to be alert to flooding in the coming week.

In a statement they said: “The situation can change very quickly and even small amounts of rain could result in significant impacts in areas where river levels are high and/or where the ground is already saturated.”

They advised the public to check local authority websites and social media channels for information on “road closures, flooding updates, and community alerts”.

When travelling the said to “allow for disruption” and to “plan extra travel time”.

Roads in several counties have been damaged by flood water and the NECG said motorists should “not bypass ‘Road Closed’ signs or drive through floodwater”.