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Live BlogLAST UPDATE | 13 mins ago
FOUR COUNTIES ARE under Status Orange rain warnings this afternoon, with Status Yellow warnings in place for ten other counties.
The Orange rainfall warnings kicked in for counties Waterford, Dublin, Wicklow and Louth at midday.
Elsewhere, counties Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Wexford, Tipperary, Cavan, Monaghan, Louth and Meath are all under Status Yellow rain warnings until tomorrow.
Met Éireann has said spells of “very heavy rain” will be falling on “already saturated ground”, with the worst impacts expected for areas that were already severely affected by flooding in recent days.
This, combined with high river levels and high tides, is likely to lead to localised flooding and river flooding as well as difficult travel conditions.
Local authorities have been deploying sandbags, clearing drains and carrying out other flood prevention works before the worst of the rain, which is expected later today.
Louth County Council has also said that Main Street in Blackrock is currently closed due to high tide, with a road sweeper due on site to remove any debris.
🌊 High tide in Blackrock is at 1.40pm on Thursday, with tide heights of approximately 5.42m expected. For safety, Main Street will be closed an hour before and an hour afterwards. A road sweeper will be on site to remove any debris that is washed in by the sea. Motorists are… pic.twitter.com/Xc4aaBt2zJ
— Louth County Council (@louthcoco) February 5, 2026
Louth County Council has said that extra sandbags will be delivered to Carlingford before high tide today.
Here is a list of depots where sandbags are available.
Extra sandbags will be delivered to Carlingford before high tide on Thursday and are also in place in areas which were affected last week, including Cluan Enda and Bay Estate in Dundalk, while one tonne sandbags will remain in place on the N2 Drogheda Road in Ardee to divert… pic.twitter.com/eP3zn338ZN
— Louth County Council (@louthcoco) February 5, 2026
Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty and Tánaiste Simon Harris clashed over the progress made on flood defences during Leaders’ Questions this afternoon.
Doherty told the Dáil that families were “once again clearing out the debris and water, knowing this destruction was predictable and preventable”.
He pointed to Harris’ role as minister of state with responsibility for flood defences a decade ago, saying many of the flood relief schemes “identified, prioritised or advanced” during that period “remain incomplete”.
“A significant number are stuck at planning or, even worse, early design stage,” Doherty said.
Harris responded by saying a lot of progress has been made, saying the Office of Public Works “has already completed some 56 flood relief schemes, protecting some 13,000 properties and avoiding estimated damage of around two billion euro”.
But Doherty said the figure of 56 relates to flood relief projects completed since 1997. He said only 17 had been completed since Harris became a member of the government 10 years ago.
Some 148 schemes in areas prone to flooding identified by a specialist report have not yet been completed, the Sinn Féin TD added.
Harris said “there is an increased focus on allowing local authorities to fast-track more works that can be done in the here and now”.
He added that about 900 such projects have already been delivered.
He also said flood relief schemes are “being classified as critical infrastructure” and “the Government intends to bring forward a critical infrastructure Bill”.
Luas Green Line services are currently not operating between Parnell and St Stephen’s Green due to “a non Luas related incident”.
Luas Green Line services are currently not operating between Parnell and St. Stephen's Green. Services are only operating between Broombridge and Parnell and Brides Glen and St. Stephen's Green. This is due to a non Luas related incident. Luas tickets are valid on Dublin Bus for…
— Transport for Ireland (@TFIupdates) February 5, 2026
Tonight’s Sigerson Cup semi-final between Queens University Belfast and University of Limerick has been postponed due to the Status Orange rain warning in Dublin.
The third-level colleges football fixture was due to take place at DCU St Clare’s sports ground at 6pm. A new date is expected to be announced in due course.
You can read more here.
🚨 POSTPONED 🚨
— UL GAA Club (@ul_gaa) February 5, 2026
Tonight’s scheduled @HigherEdGAA Sigerson Cup Semi-Final vs @QueensGAA has been postponed as a result of the Orange weather warning in Dublin.
Details of the re-fixture will follow in due course.#ULGAA #BelongToThePack 🐺 pic.twitter.com/tISsboBU3S
Rail services between Enniscorthy and Wexford are not operating until further notice due to flooding, according to Iarnród Éireann.
Services will not operate between Enniscorthy-Wexford until further notice due to flooding. -AD
— Iarnród Éireann (@IrishRail) February 5, 2026
Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews has said the government should “rapidly prepare” an application to the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to help cover the cost of its response to severe flooding caused by Storm Chandra last week.
In a statement, Andrews said the cost to Ireland for repairs, clean-up operations and infrastructure improvements “will be significant”.
He said the fund is “made available in the EU budget for exactly these natural disasters”.
“My office has been in contact with the relevant European Commission officials, who confirmed that the overall damage and recovery cost threshold for Ireland to qualify in 2026 is €2,537 million,” Andrews said.
“The application must be submitted within 12 weeks since the beginning of the storm, so I would ask the relevant state authorities to now rapidly prepare an Irish application.”
He added: “From 2002 until 2024, the Solidarity Fund received 180 applications, of which 129 were successful – so an Irish application has a good chance of success.
“Last year, for example, €280 million was provided to help Austria, Poland, and other states to recover from the serious floods in central and Eastern Europe of the previous year.”
The EUSF was set up to respond to major natural disasters and express European solidarity to disaster-stricken regions within Europe.
It was established after severe floods in Central Europe in the summer of 2002 and has since become one of the main EU instruments for post-disaster recovery.
Dublin Bus has said that some of its services ”may experience delays or disruptions” today as a result of the Status Orange rain warning.
The company said services will operate subject to conditions and urged people to allow for extra travel time.
#DBSvcUpdate A status orange rain warning is now in place, some services may experience delays or disruptions. Customer safety remains our priority, services will operate subject to conditions. Please allow extra travel time and check for updates before travelling.@TFIupdates
— dublinbusnews (@dublinbusnews) February 5, 2026
James Joyce’s poem ‘Rain has fallen all the day’ seems an appropriate one for the day that’s in it.
Heavy rain and high winds certainly made life a bit difficult for commuters in Dublin this morning.
For anyone commuting in Dublin, Iarnród Éireann has said that DART services between Blackrock and Salthill are experiencing delays of up to 20 minutes due to waves overtopping the platform and onto the tracks.
Services between Blackrock and Salthill are experiencing delays of up to +20mins. Knock-on delays can be expected.
— Iarnród Éireann (@IrishRail) February 5, 2026
Waves are overtopping the platform and onto the tracks.
Services are operating under special signalling arrangements. Update to follow. -AD
Dublin Fire Brigade has warned people in the suburb of Balgriffin to expect delays in the area due to a fallen tree on the Malahide Road.
Wexford town appears to have escaped any bad flooding.
Wexford County Council chair Eddie Taaffe told RTÉ’s Today with David McCullagh programme that there had been some wave overtopping at Wexford harbour this morning, but that “it hasn’t been as bad as we expected”.
Taaffe said he believes this is the worst they will face at the harbour today, but “we will obviously keep that situation under constant review”.
Wexford County Council has deployed an ‘aqua dam’ interim defence in Enniscorthy, a temporary, water-filled portable enclosure used to control, divert, or contain water for flood protection and construction.
Some over spilling on Wexford Quay this morning. Luckily it is not as bad as expected but Wexford County Council will be monitoring the situation carefully. pic.twitter.com/DOwTtydopJ
— Wexford County Council (@wexfordcoco) February 5, 2026
The Road Safety Authority has urged people to avoid driving during bad weather if they can.
Speaking to RTÉ’s David McCullagh earlier, the RSA’s David Martin said driving conditions will be “extremely challenging” today, particularly in Dublin, Wicklow and Waterford.
“If you can avoid driving, do so. If you have to do your journey, give yourself some extra time. It’s going to take a little bit longer,” he said.
Martin said the most important message for drivers today is to slow down and allow a greater breaking distance between themselves and the vehicle in front of them.
“It can take more than twice as long to stop your car in these wet conditions, so give twice as much space between yourself and the car in front.”
He also urged more vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians to be aware of their visibility and to wear high-vis clothing and lights.
For those counties under Orange rain warnings, Met Éireann has warned that spells of very heavy rain falling on already saturated ground combined with high river levels and high tides will lead to localised flooding, river flooding and difficult travel conditions.
Speaking to RTÉ earlier, forecaster Gerry Murphy said the higher regions in Dublin, such as the Dublin mountains and parts of the capital that have flooded recently, will be the most at risk of flooding over the next 24 to 36 hours.
“It’s really the southern half of Dublin that this Orange warning refers to, simply because the higher ground is in South Dublin in conjunction with the Wicklow Mountains,” he said.
Murphy said people should be aware that there is going to be “a lot of consistent, persistent rain”.
“The rain will start off around mid-morning, and it’s really going to continue right the way through the rest of today, right the way through the night, and right the way up until tomorrow afternoon. So it’s going to be very wet, really.”
⚠️Warnings updated⬇️
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) February 5, 2026
❗️Spells of very heavy rain falling on already saturated ground combined with high river levels and high tide❗️
ℹ️https://t.co/lvQFgW9biq pic.twitter.com/xYatp6LyKw
There are a number of rain warnings in place at the moment for much of the country.
In Northern Ireland, a Yellow rain warning is in effect for Antrim, Armagh, Down, Tyrone and Derry until midnight tomorrow.
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