The east of the country experienced heavy downpours, thunder and lightning on Wednesday afternoon, sparking Met Éireann to warn of an increased risk of localised flooding.
A number of orange and yellow weather warnings have been in place since Tuesday night, but there have not been reports of severe flooding or a large number of power outages as a result of the adverse conditions.
An offshore wind turbine near Arklow, Co Wicklow was believed to be struck by lightning during the storm, with images emerging of smoke billowing out from the top of it.
A spokesman for the Irish Coast Guard confirmed they received reports of the incident at lunchtime on Wednesday.
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A spokesman for GE renewables, which owns the turbine, confirmed an incident took place. “There were no injuries. The Coast Guard has been notified. Once weather conditions permit and we can access the site safely, we will start working to determine the root cause of this event,” the spokesman added.
Multiple status orange thunderstorm warnings were issued throughout the day, with one in place for Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Meath, and Wicklow until 5pm, and for Dublin, Wexford, Wicklow, and Waterford until 11pm, while a status yellow thunderstorm warning was issued for all of Ireland until 1am on Thursday. An orange rain warning was in place for Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow for part of Thursdaywhile a status yellow rain warning for Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Cavan, Monaghan, Cork, Kerry and Tipperary was also in place.
Dublin City Council (DCC) said some local areas had seen spot flooding, with up to 25mm of rain falling in parts.
“There has been some areas of localised spot flooding, which have been cleared by DCC staff,” a council spokeswoman said.
Local authority staff had been working since 4am on Wednesday morning and would continue to respond to any further reports of flooding, she said.
Fingal County Council said some roads had seen heavy water pooling due to the “huge volume of rainfall in a very short time frame”. A spokesman for the council said four crews had been working on Wednesday to clear water from roads.
Met Éireann forecaster Paul Downes said there is a “line of very intense rain and thunderstorms over the east” of the country.
“These will push a bit further inland along the east coast during the afternoon. And while there is some drier, brighter conditions along the south and southwest, it will give way to further bands of rain pushing up from the south to later this afternoon,” he said.
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A spokesman for ESB said there is currently “a number” of power outages as a result of thunderstorms with pockets of customers in Westmeath and Wicklow most affected. The largest of these are in Athlone and Bray where ESB Networks crews are currently dispatched.
However, the scale of weather-related disruption remains “relatively low”, the spokesman added.
The rain will ease for most areas during the day on Wednesday, as a dry spell develops, according to Emer Flood, of Met Éireann.
“Later this evening, another band of heavy rain, with further possible thunderstorms, will spread up from the south. It will track northwards over the country tonight. There is a continued risk of localised flooding tonight.”
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Fresh to strong southeast winds will gradually ease overnight, lowest temperatures of nine to 12 degrees.
Thursday will be a drier day, Ms Flood said, with the morning due to be largely dry across the country, with bright spells.
“There’s a chance of isolated showers during the morning time, however during the afternoon and evening, the rain will once again develop in the southwest and south,” she said.
“The weather will be staying unsettled on Friday and throughout the weekend with rain most days, quite breezy at times as well.”
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has advised road users to take care due to the risk of flooding.
“Road users in areas affected by the orange warnings for heavy rain are advised to check local traffic and weather conditions before setting out on a journey,” the RSA said.
“Drivers need to slow down and allow a greater braking distance between themselves and the vehicle in front in wet weather conditions. This is especially important on high speed roads such as dual carriageways and motorways where there is increased danger of aquaplaning.”
