Updated 11:45am.
A STATUS YELLOW weather alert has been issued for Ireland for this afternoon and evening.
A band of rain is expected to cross the country with rainfall totals of up to 25 millimetres forecast.
Met Éireann says the alert will come into effect at midday and will stay in place until 11pm. Cavan, Louth, Meath and Monaghan are most at risk of flash flooding.
Forecaster Ger Fleming told Morning Ireland that the weather will get drier, but colder, in the coming days:
We’re moving into a different weather regime … it will be a drier period but it will also be a colder period.
Transport
Bus Eireann is warning that dozens of school routes are being diverted and cancelled today due to flooding.
The company says that where flooding is an issue, most services will operate with disruptions but a small amount of routes may be unable to operate until flood waters recede.
It’s understood that civil defence volunteers will be assisting with transporting some children to school. Here’s a list of all the routes affected.
Bus Éireann added that the situation is being closely monitored and normal services will resume as soon as it is physically possible to do so.
Gallen Community School in Co Offaly has been partially closed today because of flooding.
Meanwhile, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) is advising all road users to take extra care when using the roads this morning.
Drivers are also being asked to check their vehicles for any damage that might have been caused from driving on roads damaged by recent storms.
Flooding
The Local Authority, Clare Civil Defence and The Defence Forces, are maintaining a 24-hour presence at the River Shannon to assist residents affected by flooding and to respond to any additional impact.
Approximately 5,000 sandbags have been installed in the Springfield area of Clare to assist residents of up to 15 properties and up to 30 pumps have been deployed to and are operating in the area.
ESB says levels in Lough Derg have decreased marginally in the past 24 hours and the flow of water through Parteen Weir will remain at 470 cubic metres per second.
However, Clare County Council says it is anticipating an increase in water levels on the Lower River Shannon at Springfield, Clonlara, this evening as a result of the rainfall forecast.
Hugh McGrath, Killaloe District Engineer, Clare County Council says, “Water levels have dropped two inches overnight and are now approximately 6-7 inches below the November 2009 peak level which was reached on Saturday night last.
“We expect water levels to increase further overnight tonight and as a result standard operating and response procedures are in place in the event of additional flooding incidents occurring.”
Originally published 7:25am.
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