Parts of West Cork hit by flooding on Christmas Day

CHRISTMAS Day has been wet and windy across West Cork with some flooding in places, and possibly more to follow, as a Status Yellow rainfall warning has been issued by Met Éireann, predicting 40mm of rain in Munster and Leinster in the 30-hour period from midday today until 6pm on St Stephen’s Day.

There was flooding in a number of parts of West Cork on Christmas Day, including the Bandon to Kilbrittain road and in the village of Castletownshend (pictured), and surface water on roads, along with strong winds, made driving conditions difficult.

People are advised not to undertake any unnecessary journeys and to make sure that elderly neighbours have enough food and fuel to see them through the weekend. After the passing of Storm Eva, the next one due – at the start of next week – has been named Frank, so there seems to be no end in sight to the wet and windy weather.

Despite this, most scheduled Christmas Day swims locally went ahead in aid of a variety of worthy causes and next week’s Southern Star, which will be in the shops on Thursday morning, December 31^st, will carry a picture special on these swims.