A wet present — and a wetter future

A one-in-100-year flood does not mean a flood that happens once a century. It means a flood with a 1% chance of occurring in any given year. Two such floods can occur in back-to-back years, or several can occur in a single decade

Wet driving conditions on the Rochestown Road in Cork. Picture: Chani Anderson

Right now, across Ireland, rivers are full to the brim and fields have become temporary lakes. Roads disappear under brown water. Businesses in small towns spend days sweeping out premises, only to watch the next band of rain undo the effort overnight.

For many communities this is not a single dramatic event but a slow, exhausting siege by water that simply will not stop falling. Whenever flooding happens, the same question follows: Is this climate change?

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB