Main Points
- A status yellow rain and wind warning for Leinster and Munster remains place until 10am on Friday
- Wicklow, Wexford and Dublin will be under a status orange rain warning on Friday between 2am and 8am
- Counties Waterford, Cork and Kerry are under an orange warning for rain until 5am Friday
Key Reads
- Storm Austen: Council staff on industrial action to carry out emergency work as needed
- Q&A: Who is Storm Austen named after?
Waterford bracing for storm
Waterford is bracing for the Status orange rain warning which is due to come into effect in the next hour, Darragh Murphy reports.
The local authority are prepared, with crews on call to deal with issues as they arise.
Waterford Fire Service and the Swift Water Response Teams are also ready to mobilise.
Local TD Conor McGuinness said on social media in the last 30 minutes that there is already a lot of surface water on the N25, as well as on regional and local roads across the county.
Waterford City and County Council confirmed that sandbags are available and ready to be distributed at council depots.
McGuinness said that following a visit to the council’s depot in Dungarvan this evening, that there is a good supply of sandbags available.
Meanwhile, gardaí in Waterford city and Tramore have received no reports of serious flooding or damage as of yet, a spokesperson confirmed.
Heavy rain in Killarney
Heavy rain has arrived in Killarney, Co Kerry, Anne Lucey reports.
Cork County Council particular focusing on Bantry and Midleton
Cork County Council have issued the following details in advance of Storm Austen, with particular focus on both Midleton in east Cork and Bantry in west Cork, two towns that have suffered serious flood damage in recent years, Southern Correspondent Barry Roche reports.
Preparedness actions in accordance with the east Cork MD Flood Action Plan are in progress and will continue in advance of this weather event including inspections of and cleaning (where necessary) of key drainage assets.
Sandbags have been placed at key locations in flood prone areas throughout the district. River levels are currently low in east Cork. There are over 1,000 sandbags available for use in Midleton.
Cork County Council’s east Cork Roads Operations and Area Services Staff will be carrying out flood watches Thursday evening and overnight into Friday in flood prone areas through the weather event. The Midleton flood pump is mobilised at the lower end of the Main Street. Baby’s Walk will be closed tomorrow.
Forecasts will be continue to be monitored, the county council said.
In Bantry, pumps and sandbags will be deployed in the town centre.
Known problem areas will be checked.
Gardaí in Midleton have received no reports of any flooding on either the town or surrounding villages such as Whitegate, Mogeely and Ladsbridge, which like Midleton suffered extensive damage in Storm Babet in October 2023.
Snapshot: Cork flood defences and preparations
Rain fails to dampen spirits at opening night of Cork Jazz Festival
The stormy weather may have been promised by Met Éireann rather than Etta James but that wasn’t going to deter music fans from braving Storm Austen to get the opening night of the 48th Guinness Cork Jazz Festival off to a flying start on Thursday night, Southern Correspondent Barry Roche reports.
Hundreds braved rain to make their way to the opening concert at Cork Opera House where local Leeside based trumpeter, neo soul singer and rapper Diamond began proceedings before London born Yussef Dayes treated fans to his genre-blurring blend of jazz, soul and Afrobeat.
Meanwhile away from the windswept river Lee and up on MacCurtain Street in the Everyman Palace Theatre, American duo of trumpeter Keyon Harrold and saxophonist, Marcus Strickland were celebrating the music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis in a special collaborative tribute.
Back in the heart of the city centre at the Triskel Arts Centre, Oxford born but London based instrumentalist Momoko Gill was treating Cork audiences to her eponymous debut solo album Momoko with its blend of jazzy electronica and spiritual soul search.
Lord Mayor of Cork Councillor Damian Boylan speaking to The Irish Times before attending the opening concert at the Cork Opera House acknowledged the weather wasn’t ideal but said that rain had never deterred either Corkonians or visitors to the city from enjoying “the Jazz”.
“The Stargazers have a song called ‘We All Love the Jazz” that they brought out years back and it’s still true today – hail, rain or shine, Cork people will head out for the jazz – it won’t affect it at all – we nearly expect rain jazz weekend as Cork people, we always do.
“The only thing the rain does is make people sprint from one venue to the next and the city will be buzzing again this weekend with 500 artists performing in over 100 events at 80 venues including concert halls, theatres, hotels, pubs and clubs as well as on the street.”
Rain to be clear by mid-morning on Friday
Tomorrow, any lingering rain will clear to the east by around mid-morning, Met Éireann has said.
Sunshine and well scattered blustery showers elsewhere will follow, mainly affecting western counties.
Sandbags being distributed in Kerry
Sandbags are being distributed in Kerry tonight in anticipation of flooding in the wake of Storm Austen, Anne Lucey reports.
The south of the county is expected to bear the worst of the effects, said Paul Neary, director of climate action and operational services with Kerry County Council.
The whole of Kerry is under an orange warning, he said.
The county council is advising members of the public and all road users to expect disruption and possible flooding tonight, and during the Friday morning commute.
The orange weather warning for rain comes into effect for Kerry at 10pm on Thursday and expires at 5am on Friday. A yellow warning for wind will be in effect from 7pm on Thursday to 10am on Friday.
Kerry County Council is advising motorists to expect surface water and flooding as well as the possibility of fallen trees and debris on many routes tonight and on Friday morning.
Council crews are on standby to deal with any problems which arise. The council’s emergency number will be available overnight for the duration of the weather warning and any weather related issues can be reported to 066 7183588.
Sandbags are being distributed to areas which are vulnerable to flooding.
Council crews and the Civil Defence are on standby.
Public transport disruption
Rail services are set to face some disruption over the upcoming bank holiday weekend, including parts of the Dart network and regional operations, Glen Murphy reports.
Bank holiday weekends “afford the opportunity for 76 hours of work (from last train Friday night until 4am Tuesday morning) for projects that require a greater scale of activity” than regular overnight works allow for, Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny said.
These larger scale works include improvements to infrastructure such as tracks, overhead wires and bridges and that while most works cause little alteration to services, “some disruption is unavoidable”, he said.
In Dublin, works will take place between Grand Canal Dock and Bray, Co Wicklow, as well between Howth and Howth Junction from October 24th to 26th. No Dart services will run between these stations over the weekend, but they will continue operating between Malahide and Grand Canal Dock.
However, additional arrangements have been made by the rail operator to cater for fans attending the Leinster v Munster rugby fixture in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
While Landsdowne Road Station will be closed due to the works, fans can make their way to Pearse Station after the final whistle to catch northbound Darts between 7.30pm and 9pm, serving all stops to Howth Junction and Malahide.
Extra early morning services are also being put on to cater for those taking part in the Dublin Marathon on Sunday, October 25th. They will operate as:
- 6am Dundalk to Dublin Pearse, serving all stations to Malahide, then Connolly, Tara Street and Pearse
- 6.25am Kildare to Pearse, serving all stations
- 6.50am Maynooth to Dublin Pearse, serving all stations
- 7am Malahide to Grand Canal Dock, serving all stations
Elsewhere, Limerick area services will be disrupted due to works on the Foynes freight line. This involves commissioning the signalling system and affects all trains running to or from Limerick Colbert Station.
Bus transfers will be in operation between the city and Limerick Junction, as far as Ennis on Galway services and on services to Ballybrophy via Nenagh, on Saturday and Monday. No Ballybrophy services will operate on Sunday.
Track improvement works will be taking place between Athlone and Ballinasloe on Saturday from 6pm for the remainder of the evening with bus transfers in place on Dublin-Galway services but these are expected to be lifted for services on Sunday and Monday.
Waterford City and County Council advises public to exercise caution during Storm Austen
Following a meeting of Waterford City and County Council’s Severe Weather Assessment Team (SWAT) this afternoon, “proactive preparations” are being put in place to deal with the potential impacts of Storm Austen.
As part of these preparations, ground crews are clearing fallen leaves and debris particularly in low-lying and flood-prone areas, where drainage gullies can become obstructed during periods of heavy rainfall.
The crews will be on call throughout the night to deal with issues as they arise, such as blocked drains and gully overflows.
Waterford Fire Service and the Swift Water Response Teams are also on standby.
In the event that sandbags are required, they will be available at Waterford City and County Council Depots in Dungarvan (X35 N793) Carrickphierish in the city (X91 N40T), Tramore (X91 PV08), Leperstown, Dunmore East (X91 YH90), and Tallow (P51 VX71) and also at Clashmore GAA Centre (P36 ET26) and Siopa Nua and Passage East.
“Waterford City and County Council advises the public to exercise caution, heed public safety advice and avoid unnecessary journeys as driving conditions may be hazardous, with surface water flooding expected,” a statement read.
“While river levels currently have some capacity and tides are relatively low, members of the public should stay away from coastal areas as conditions can change quickly during severe weather, heeding the advice of the Irish Coast Guard to ‘Stay Back, Stay High and Stay Dry’.”
Members of the public can contact Waterford City and County Council’s Customer Services Desk on 0818 10 20 20. Outside of office hours calls will be transferred to the Council’s emergency services number.
Safety warning
The Irish Coast Guard, Water Safety Ireland and the RNLI have issued a joint appeal to the public to take extra care around coastlines and inland waterways over the next few days.
They have asked swimmers to avoid the water during the storms and to take extra precautions as the week goes on and daylight hours get progressively shorter.
ESB Networks has warned of possible electricity outages overnight as the first big storm of the season approaches Ireland.
Weather warnings
A status-yellow rain and wind warning for Leinster and Munster comes into effect at 7pm on Thursday and will be in place until 10am on Friday.
Wicklow, Wexford and Dublin have a status orange rain warning in place from 2am until 8am Friday.
Counties Waterford, Cork and Kerry have an orange warning for rain in place from 10pm on Thursday until 5am on Friday.
Storm Austen to hit Ireland
Storm Austen is due to hit Ireland on Thursday evening.
Cloud will increase through the evening as wet and windy conditions spread northwards over the country as Storm Austen tracks to the south of Ireland.
Met Éireann has forecast heavy rain in Munster and south Leinster, spreading into Connacht and the rest of Leinster throughout the evening.
Localised flooding is possible, especially in Munster and Leinster.
Storm Austen will be followed by followed by Storm Boelo on Saturday.
The latter is forecast to coincide with high tides, increasing the risk of flooding from high waves and storm surges, particularly along the west and northwest coasts.
“With two weather events now expected, local response teams will be very busy throughout the bank holiday weekend,” said Keith Leonard, head of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management.
“The National Severe Weather and Flood Coordination Group will meet daily throughout the next few days to ensure the most effective response to any developments arising from the challenging weather conditions.”
