Dublin has gotten nearly as much rain since yesterday as the average for an entire July
Several counties in Leinster and Ulster have been under weather warnings this morning due to heavy rainfall, which has caused flooding and poor road conditions in some areas of the regions.
Dublin, Louth and Meath have experienced the heaviest of the rain, with intense downpours overnight and into the morning.
The three counties, along with Wicklow, have been under a Status Orange rainfall warning, which is 'fairly rare' for eastern counties in the month of July.
Speaking to
The Journal
, meteorologist Brandon Creagh outlined that in a 24-hour period up to around 10am this morning, Dundalk in Louth experienced 60mm of rain, while Ardee, also in Louth, received 55mm.
'Meath was in the 50s as well with Navan at 54mm and Dunsany at 52mm, and Dublin also got into the 50s with 54mm in Phoenix Park and 52mm in Glasnevin,' he said.
Creagh said a Status Orange rainfall warning is 'fairly rare for July for eastern counties'.
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'We can get systems pushing to the west and northwest and southwest that can get those levels of rainfall fairly often, but it's rare enough for Dublin and the east of the country to get those kind of high millimeters of rain,' he said.
'We do get heavy thunderstorms that are more likely in the summer, but these longer bands of rain don't typically bring this much rainfall in the summer.'
The long-term (30-year) average rainfall total for July at the Phoenix Park weather station in Dublin is 60.1mm - but the conditions since yesterday have seen nearly as much rain as that monthly average fall in the area in just a 24-hour period.
In 2024 and 2022, the total rain recorded at Phoenix Park in July was 49.9mm and 38.1mm respectively. 2023 was an exceptional year with 149.1mm of rain in July.
Warning Updates
Status Orange Rain & thunderstorm warning for Dublin, Louth, Meath & Wicklow
Valid: 00:00 21/07/25 to 14:00 21/07/25
Status Yellow Rain warning for Kildare & Monaghan
Valid: 00:00 21/07/25 to 14:00 21/07/25
Stay safe and updated⚠️
https://t.co/GYji547FKt
pic.twitter.com/ccWfuR26Mc
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann)
July 20, 2025
The intense rainfall was caused by a low pressure system that has been influencing Ireland's weather over the past few days.
'It started off to the south of the country yesterday and it pushed up its occluded front, which brought heavy rain and showers and thunderstorms yesterday as well,' Creagh said.
'The way the system tracked was towards the UK and that shifted it more north-easterly and pushed that heavy band of rain into those east and northeastern counties,' he said.
'The way that the system tracked towards the east and then pushed the front over the northeast caused the front to lie there fairly stationary for a while, and that's why the rain was persistent and non-stop for those overnight hours into this morning,' he explained.
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He added that worst of the incessant rain has now passed.
The unusual level of rainfall for July is consistent with changing weather patterns caused by climate change.
A warmer atmosphere is able to hold more moisture, making extreme precipitation events more likely and more intense.
For every one additional degree of warming, the atmosphere can hold around 7% more moisture.
'As a result, heavy rainfall events are expected to be more common,' Creagh said.
'While this is just a single event and it's difficult to ascribe any one event as being a result of climate change, these events do become more likely as we head into a warming atmosphere.'
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