Local authority crews are on standby across many counties as heavy rain continues to fall since the early hours of this morning.
Met Éireann has warned of possible flooding and dangerous travelling conditions with a Status Yellow rain warning for 11 counties and a Status Orange warning in place for Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford bringing persistent heavy rain and thundery downpours.
Both alerts are in place until 1am.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, Met Éireann forecaster Michelle Dillon said heavy rain will continue stretching from the southeast but overall the situation is improving.
"The heaviest of the rainfall at the moment is really down in Wexford," Ms Dillon said.
"A line of it stretching up then from the southeast through the midlands and up towards the northwest."
The band of rain was slowly moving east, northeastwards, she said.
"There is still a risk of localised flooding continuing for parts of Leinster in particular and of course, Waterford and Roscommon."
She said people need to take care and reduce speed, adding that visibility will be reduced.
"Our weather is in this unsettled pattern, with more rainfall to come on Wednesday, but nothing like what we have seen today," Ms Dillon added.
Waterford
Surface water levels remain high in many parts of Waterford city and county, with a number of roads blocked or partially-blocked.
The L4076 road in Woodstown, between Dunmore East and the Passage Road, is impassable at the moment and diversions are in place.
The road is located near the Saratoga pub which has flooded in the past.
Elsewhere in the county, the L2012 road between the villages of Villierstown and Aglish in west Waterford is badly flooded and motorists have been urged to avoid the area.
There is a road closure on the L4076-41 at Fairybush to Woodstown and flooding on the Dunmore Road at Hickey's Cross and Knockboy on the edge of the city.
There is heavy surface water on the Cork Road near the Regional Sports Ground and also in the Lisduggan area.
There is also flooding near Faithlegg Church and on the Passage East road near Waterford, and on the N25 on the New Ross side.
Kilkenny
It is a similar story in Kilkenny, where many incidences of spot flooding have taken place.
The council are monitoring river levels but say the King's River in Callan and the Duiske in Graiguenamanagh, both of which have flooded in the past, are at manageable levels at the moment.
Status Orange - Rain warning for Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) October 22, 2023
Heavy & persistent rain with thundery downpours possible🌧️⛈️
Impacts:
Flooding
Dangerous travel conditions
Poor visibility
Valid: 04:00 Monday 23/10/2023 to 04:00 Tuesday 24/10/2023 pic.twitter.com/PlnHBi9lcz
The Status Yellow rain alert is in place for Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow and Roscommon.
A separate Status Yellow rain warning in effect for Clare, Cork, Mayo, Limerick, Tipperary and Galway expired at 6pm.
Report shows that climate change firmly upon us in Ireland
Cork
Cork County Council says river levels are receding and confirmed they have received no reports of properties being flooded overnight.
A massive clean-up operation is underway in east Cork and council crews remain on standby in the event of any emergencies as the county's Severe Weather Assessment Team continues to monitor the situation.
Iarnród Éireann said "weather-related damage between Mallow and Charleville" has caused service delays and timetable changes until further notice between these stations.
Senior forecaster at Met Éireann Gerry Murphy said the areas under an Orange rain warning are in the catchment areas for the Barrow, Nore and Suir rivers, where the levels are already high.
He said that the total amount of rainfall is expected to be 30 to 35mm, which is normally Yellow warning territory, but it is not expected to be as impactful as last week.
Mr Murphy said that Met Éireann always highlight threats to a county with the council and more specific areas, such as coastal areas.
"We provide more information as we can in order to be more specific to those on the ground," he said.
He said that the rest of the week would be unsettled, as rain hangs over north Leinster and Ulster tonight, with showers tomorrow and more rain on the way overall for the week.
The warnings come following a week where Storm Babet left hundreds of homes and businesses flooded in many parts of Cork and Waterford.
Midleton in Co Cork, was one of the worst affected as premises were swamped with floodwaters.
Additional reporting: Conor Kane
