Green Living Dublin
Ireland has long been known to have everchanging weather. It's raining one minute, the next the sun is shining. In the last few years winters have lasted longer. All of this is because of the effects of climate change. Dublin is especially suffering because it is so close to the sea. Here we will take a look at the ever changing weather patterns over the years.
This was the worst winter ever recorded in Ireland. While there have been bad winters recorded in Ireland none as severe as this. Snow showers and heavy rainfall affected much of Ireland. A horribly cold winter arrived in Ireland at Christmas and lasted until the following March. There hasn't been a winter this intense seen in Ireland since.
In Ireland at the end of 1986 hurricane Charley arrived and it is now known as one of the worst storms on Irish records. 11 deaths were recorded between Ireland and The UK. Wicklow and Dublin were the worst hit. Both the river Dodder in Dublin and the river Dargle in Wicklow burst their banks. It rained for a solid 24 hours which was record breaking as this had never occurred in Ireland before. This lead to widespread flooding, destruction of trees and many powerlines being knocked down. 400 homes and businesses were flooded to quite a depth. Throughout Ballsbridge and Sandymount in Dublin, dozens of residents were evacuated. Meteorologists stated at the time that this type of rainfall usually only occurs once every 100 years.
This caused major disruption in Ireland. Transport disasters occurred, Wind decimatedd many homes and many trees fell on busy roads. This particular storm caused much disruption and damage to businesses and cars were irreplaceably damaged. Many windows in homes and businesses were shattered. Many train and bus routes were cancelled. Powerlines were knocked down and damaged. Fallen trees caused many road blockages. This caused several road crashes and traffic build-ups.
Trees were knocked but also roads were lifted and destroyed. Traffic lights all over Dublin were out of order. 360,000 homes were left without power while the storm was still affecting much of the country. Bus Eireann, Dublin Bus and Irish Rail suspended all services due to fears of effects of this storm. Many school transport systems were also curtailed temporaily for safety reasons. This storm claimed 3 lives outside of Dublin.
In a similar fashion Storm Jorge landed in Ireland on Febuary of this year and caused mass destruction in Ireland and Dublin as can be seen in Clontarf above. This was only a mere 3 years after Hurricane Ophelia. Many homes were left without electricity. Out of 5000 faults, Saggart in Dublin accounted for over half of these faults. Winds were recorded between 100km/h and 130km/hr.