Downpour in Dublin was second worst ever

RAINFALL STATISTICS:THE EQUIVALENT of a month's average rainfall fell in parts of Dublin on Saturday, said Met Éireann, resulting in flash flooding and travel chaos. Further flooding remains a possibility.

Met Éireann's weather station at Dublin airport recorded 76.2mm of rain between midnight on Friday and midnight Saturday, the second highest amount to fall in the capital during a 24-hour period since records began.

The downpour was 3mm greater than that recorded when Hurricane Charlie hit in 1986.

Jim O'Brien, a meteorologist with Met Éireann, said the downpours were most likely caused by a number of thunderstorms joining together in a manner more common to continental Europe.

"That kind of rainfall is rare - but it is not unprecedented. We've had a number of occurrences of that level of rainfall, typically once every decade," Mr O'Brien said.

"We had no indication of anything like was going to happen on Friday. The first indication was on Saturday morning, but even then it looked like there would be some thundery showers.

"The whole development of the system was explosive. By early afternoon we sent out weather warnings. There are still questions about this which we'd like to have answered, so we'll have to study it in further detail."

The record rainfall for the capital was in June 1993 when 90mm fell in 24 hours.

More unsettled weather is expected over the coming days.

So far, August has recorded 122mm of rain, well exceeding the monthly average. The figures are similar to last year's summer wash-out.

"Last year it was the final third of August before the weather began to settle down a bit. That, unfortunately, is probably the best we can hope for," Mr O'Brien said.