Heavy showers set to continue over weekend

The heavy and thundery showers that put many parts of the country under water yesterday look set to continue over the weekend.

According to Met Éireann, similar showers will persist today, particularly in Connacht and Munster. Afternoon temperatures are expected to be a little cooler than yesterday, hovering between 18 and 22 degrees.

Patches of overnight rainfall are also expected in the southern counties along the coast, while tomorrow downpours and local spot flooding are likely during the afternoon.

Yesterday 7mm of rain fell in one hour at Dunsany in Co Meath and Dublin City Council reported that 20mm fell around the Ringsend, Ballsbridge and Clontarf areas of the city during a 90-minute period.

Rainfall for a typical summer day in Ireland ranges between 0mm and 2mm.

The downpours led to flash floods in many parts of the capital. Jones Road in Drumcondra was impassable for a period and there were reports of flooding on Griffith Avenue and Marino Road.

There were also reports of flooding on Sheriff Street, the Shelbourne Road/Lansdowne Road junction, the Swords Road in Santry and at Macken Street on the north quays before O’Connell Bridge.

Luas services were disrupted at about 6pm yesterday when lightning struck one of the trams on the green line. For about 45 minutes services between Beechwood and Brides Glen were halted. A spokeswoman for Transdev, the company that operates the Luas, said no one was injured as a result of the incident.

Earlier in the week emergency accommodation for youths who are homeless or in crisis at Lefroy House on Eden Quay in Dublin had to be closed after heavy rain on Wednesday flooded part of the building.

The HSE, Focus Ireland and the Salvation Army worked together to relocate the service to another premises temporarily.

“There were sufficient beds to meet service needs [on Thursday night] and there was minimum disruption for the service users,” a HSE spokeswoman said.

Between 5pm and 6pm yesterday 7mm of rain fell in one hour at Finner Camp in Co Donegal.

The county’s general hospital was flooded and patients were rushed to safety as members of the public were asked to help clear the water.

Off-duty hospital staff were called in to work to help save patient files that had become water-logged.

Dozens of houses in the area were flooded while manhole covers reportedly blew open due to increased water pressure.

Many roundabouts were impassable and a number of graves were damaged after a wall collapsed, causing a deluge of water to sweep in to Conwal graveyard.