LAST UPDATE | 13 Feb

DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has urged motorists not to drive through floods, as it monitors elevated river levels following “exceptionally heavy rainfall” overnight.

Around 46mm of rain fell overnight in some areas, causing flooding in north Dublin and elevating river levels, including the Tolka in Drumcondra.

A local primary school warned parents to be alert to potential danger to children walking home near the swollen Tolka, which they described as “extremely high and in danger of bursting”.

The council said that while rainfall has eased, river levels “remain elevated and conditions are being closely monitored”.

Meanwhile, Dublin City Council has said a ”full review has commenced” which will look at the ”timeliness of weather warnings/forecasts”.

A Status Yellow rain warning was in place in Dublin and Wicklow until midday today, with Met Éireann warning of flooding and difficult travelling conditions in both counties. 

But this alert was put in place at around 2.30am. 

In a statement to The Journal, Met Éireann said its meteorologists observing the evolving weather situation during Thursday night and early Friday morning “recognised the likely impacts of the rainfall and issued a Yellow Rainfall warning for Dublin and Wicklow that was valid from the time of issue (2.36am) to 12noon on Friday”.

“This warning was issued to increase public awareness, taking account of expected intense rainfall during the morning commuting period,” added Met Éireann. 

The Tolka River in Griffith Park, Drumcondra, overflows onto the park land after heavy rain fall around Dublin. RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

Meanwhile, Dublin City Council is actively monitoring elevated surface water levels across the city, particularly in the River Liffey in the general vicinity of Chapelizod.

It is also working closely with Waterways Ireland in relation to the Grand Canal, which is experiencing heightened water levels. 

Combined with already saturated ground conditions, the high levels of rain resulted in significant surface water run-off and flooding, particularly in Clongriffin and Ballymun, where localised flooding affected roads and properties.

In Clongriffin, an Uisce Éireann sewer surcharged, resulting in road damage and property flooding.

An apartment complex in Clongriffin has been flooded, with cars submerged in the carpark and the gym also largely underwater.

Dublin City Council said emergency crews were deployed throughout the night and continue to respond today. The public are advised to exercise caution and report urgent issues through the council’s emergency contact channels.

Meanwhile, a number of roads leading to Dublin Airport were flooded, including the road from Santry.

A spokesperson for the airport said some roads leading to Dublin Airport were closed or “trickier” than usual to navigate. The spokesperson added that flight operations are running as normal.

Dublin Bus put diversions in place on routes 16, 33, 41 and 41c, which it has since lifted.

Bus Éireann has said that some local services will be affected by the bad weather, and that commuters are urged to check their planned trip on the TFI Live app. 

Meanwhile, cars were submerged in an underground car park in an apartment complex in Clongriffin. 

Lee Gaffney, a resident of the complex, told RTÉ Radio 1′s Morning Ireland programme that the whole main road outside is flooded, and the car park is entirely flooded after pipes in the area burst. 

Mary T Daly, director of operations for Fingal County Council, has said that flooding has hit multiple areas including Balbriggan, Skerries, and the road between Lusk and Rush. 

Also speaking on Morning Ireland earlier, Daly said that the council has sandbags in lots of areas, and that it expects it will be dealing with flooding for the rest of the day.