Irish forecasters issue new rain warnings as Government examines flood aid

Ireland’s meteorological agency has issued fresh weather warnings for intense rain, days after parts of the country were severely flooded during Storm Babet.

It comes as Ireland’s Minister for Finance said a proposal is being worked on to increase the level of support that will be offered to those affected by flooding in Co Cork.

Met Eireann has issued a status orange rain warning for counties Dublin and Wicklow, cautioning of the risk of further floods and dangerous driving conditions during spells of heavy rain until 8am on Saturday.

There is a chance of thunder in the east of the country as a separate yellow rain warning is also in effect for those counties, as well as Meath and Louth, until 9pm on Friday.

Irish finance minister Michael McGrath said money will be available to people affected by floods in Co Cork through a scheme to be administered by the Red Cross “from next week”.

This currently offers an initial 5,000 euro and further support of up to 20,000 euro based on the scale of damage.

Mr McGrath said many businesses in Midleton had their “destroyed” Christmas stock out on the street.

“The assessment of the full scale of the damage to homes and businesses will take some time, but the support will be there and that is the overarching message,” Mr McGrath told RTE Radio on Friday.

“We do have to ensure, insofar as we can, that all of these businesses that were viable before two days ago can trade into the future.”

Mr McGrath said “there will be a need to go further” because “many” businesses did not have flooding insurance because of previous flooding.

He said a proposal was being worked on by Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney which he expected would offer “an increased level of support” and go to Cabinet next Tuesday.

“The majority of the businesses (in Midleton) are severely damaged or destroyed, so this is on a scale that we haven’t seen in recent times, and so the response will have to be of a different nature and a different magnitude.”

A major clean-up operation is underway to deal with the aftermath of flooding that swamped several towns and villages in Ireland’s southwest during the week.

Army and civil defence units were deployed to support evacuation measures in the Cork town of Midleton following the storm.

On Friday, Cork County Council said there is a high risk of further flooding in Midleton, and that levels of the Owenacurra river, located near the Woodlands Estate, “are being closely monitored”.

Residents of the estate have been advised to be on “high alert” and people have been told to avoid parts of the town.

A status yellow rain warning for Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford has been lifted after being in place overnight.

A status yellow rain warning for Northern Ireland is in place until 9am on Saturday.

The Met Office said showers or longer spells of rain could lead to lead to some disruption, particularly for eastern areas.

Mr McGrath and Mr Coveney visited areas affected by the flooding in their home county of Cork on Thursday.