HEAVY RAIN CAUSED flooding in Kerry and Dublin on Thursday evening as the country was hit by heavy downpours after a very dry summer. 

A Status Yellow rain warning for Dublin was upgraded to Status Orange just after 10.30pm. 

The Phoenix Park recorded 40mm of rainfall between 9 and 10pm, more rain than in the last two months, according to Alan O’Reilly of Carlow Weather. 

O’Reilly told RTÉ Radio this morning that 56mm fell in Phoenix Park while Killarney, which was not under a weather warning, recorded 57mm. 

Significant flooding was also reported in Cabra, north Dublin. 

The Phoenix Park in Dublin recorded 40mm of rain in two hours this evening, that is more rain in 2 hours than in the last 2 months. pic.twitter.com/srAH1Szwgo

— Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) August 27, 2026

Some areas were much more heavily impacted by “very localised” rain while other parts of the country recorded relatively little, he said. 

Paul Neary of Kerry Council said “there was no warning” for the Killarney area but that flooding led to road closures and the fire department was mobilised. 

A number of main routes had to be closed temporarily, he said. 

He said “a number of properties” were flooded and that a list will be compiled this morning. 

Park Road and Countess Road in Killarney were made impassable by flooding and footage posted online by Kerry County Council showed a number of vehicles submerged.

The flooding has since cleared and the roads are open, the Council said.

The mayor of Killarney, John O’Donoghue, said the town had seen its “worst flooding in a lifetime”.

“The clean up job will be immense and my thoughts are with all those seeing the waters come in their doors causing huge damage to homes and businesses,” he said in Facebook.

“This morning, Kerry County Council continues to liaise with properties impacted by the flooding and will provide any assistance required,” the council said in a statement today.

Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre is closed today because of flood damage and is expected to re-open as normal on Saturday morning.

O’Donoghue said the flooding caused “huge disruption” and that blocked drains were not to blame.  

“The ground was so hard that it was still like concrete. The water couldn’t soak into it, so it flowed out onto our streets and our roads.

“It just overwhelmed the whole area,” he said. 

“There was water rising up out of the drains.”

He also said he understood that Met Éireann could not have predicted the scale of the downpour. 

“Weather by its very nature can be unpredictable,” he said.

In Cabra, footage posted on social media showed high water levels in a residential area.  

Cabra in Dublin 7 .. an hour ago pic.twitter.com/XbRR2aPDOH

— ken dunne (@DunneKen) August 27, 2026

A Status Yellow rain warning had been in place for Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork and Waterford that came into effect at midday on Thursday.

Dublin and Kildare were later added to the warning, which was extended until 6am on Friday instead of the original 3am.

Late on Thursday evening, the warning for Dublin was upgraded to Status Orange until 3am.