Met Éireann has traced the start of this year's wet weather back to the day of the General Election, so perhaps politicians could be blamed for triggering the rainy spell.
Munster and south Leinster were worst affected by this week's downpour, with 41mm of rain falling at Cork Airport between 6 p.m. on Wednesday and 6 a.m. yesterday.
Yesterday morning, families were forced to leave their homes in Cork city when a combination of heavy rain and high tides caused flooding. There was a large quantity of rain in a very short space of time, according to Mr John Eagleton, Met Éireann meteorologist. Most of it fell between midnight and 6 a.m.
While the weather was worst in Cork, about 21mm of rain fell at Valentia and 16mm at Rosslare during the same period.
However, this was still less than half the rainfall level in Leinster last week. About 90mm of rain fell in Dublin over a comparable period, according to Met Éireann.
The Leinster downpour was unusual, Mr Eagleton said, as the wet weather usually moved up from the south and west, not in from the east coast. "Dublin is unlikely to see that kind of rain repeated too often. That rain developed in the Irish Sea, which was unusual," he said.
This has been a very wet year, with most of the rain falling since the day of the General Election, May 17th. May, June, July and early August were very wet, with a respite in late August. This lasted through September, giving us the driest September in 16 years.
The weather is expected to brighten up in the coming days, according to Met Éireann, but spells of showery rain are expected, particularly in the south and west. Heavy, prolonged and possibly thundery showers are expected tonight, with strong and gusty southerly winds.
The breezy weather will continue over the weekend, but it will be a little milder, with showers and some sunny spells.
Dozens of families were forced to leave their homes in Cork city in the early hours of yesterday morning following a night of heavy rain and high tides. Cork City Fire Brigade responded to hundreds of calls between midnight and 3 a.m.
Water levels in the north city suburb of Blackpool reached 3½ feet along Watercourse Road and around Blackpool Church. The parish priest in Blackpool, Father Liam Hodnett, said that rows of seats in the front of the church had been damaged. He described the flooding as the worst in recent memory, adding that scores of businesses had been affected.
Many pubs and shops in the Blackpool area remained closed yesterday while their owners carried out a "mopping-up operation". Mr Paul O'Halloran, the owner of Hally's Bar in Great William O'Brien Street, said that he was "devastated", as the flooding had completely destroyed his premises. "We were 60 per cent through a refurbishment of the bar, so all the painting and decorating is no good. You name it, it is ruined. There is about 4½ feet of water in the bar."
The Commons Road and Watercourse Road on the north side of Cork were impassable until 8 a.m. yesterday, when the floodwaters began to recede.
A taxi-driver and his passenger had a lucky escape after the car in which they were travelling was swept away in the floodwaters.
Mr Dennis Mulcahy, a spokesman for Cork City Fire Brigade, said that the flooding also had a serious impact on residents in parts of the south side of the city. Up to 100 people living in Palmbury, Green Lawn and Greenwood Estate in Togher had to be evacuated to the Doughcloyne Inn overnight after water levels became dangerously high.
Mr Mulcahy urged members of the public to check on elderly and housebound neighbours yesterday to ensure that they were safe.
Elsewhere, the rest of the county escaped the worst of the flooding, although Park Road and Dromohane Road in Mallow were under water for much of the night. Parts of Fermoy and Carrigaline also had heavy rain overnight, making a number of roads impassable.
The president of the Cork Business Association, Mr James O'Sullivan, yesterday appealed to the Government to set up a flooding compensation package for businesses and residents in the city. "Obviously, with flash-flooding, people are not prepared. Listening to the sad tales of both private and commercial enterprises, it is obvious that there is extensive damage. We are looking to the Government for some support on this."