Severe flooding unfolded in parts of Ireland after Storm Claudia crossed the country on 14 November 2025, bringing persistent rainfall to already saturated ground in Leinster and Munster. The image presented today is based on data from the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS), activated as EMSR849 to assess the scale of the impacts.
The visualisation focuses on the Athlone Area of Interest, where the River Shannon and its tributaries rose quickly after the storm. According to the Delineation Monitoring 2 product, an estimated 7,206 ha were flooded. Around 8.7 ha of built-up areas were potentially affected, along with nearly 53.1 km of roads and about 19 km of railway infrastructure. In this region alone, approximately 1,030 people were potentially impacted, with towns such as Banagher and Athlone experiencing damage linked to rising water levels.
CEMS was activated on 14 November at 12:15 UTC to support flood extent and damage assessment following the storm. The first mapping product was delivered later that evening at 22:17 UTC for Durrow (AOI03), roughly ten hours after activation. By 19 November, the service concluded the activation, with no additional products planned.
The situational reporting produced by Copernicus EMS describes how Storm Claudia developed as a low-pressure system to the southwest of Ireland before being named by the Spanish meteorological agency after earlier impacts in the Canary Islands and the eastern Iberian Peninsula. A blocked North Atlantic air flow – shaped by high pressure near Greenland and a slow-moving low to the southwest of Ireland – steered weather fronts over the country. This led to persistent rainfall on waterlogged soils and overfilled rivers, increasing the likelihood of significant flooding, particularly in Leinster and Munster.
Based on remotely sensed imagery, four areas of interest were analysed for the overall activation. Across these combined areas, it is estimated that about 1,780 individuals were potentially impacted, as well as 17 ha of built-up areas, around 140 km of roads, and roughly 30 km of railway lines.
Met Éireann issued a series of alerts as the storm approached on 14 November, with orange and yellow warnings in place for parts of the West of Ireland. Thirteen counties were under Status Yellow rain warnings, while three of those counties also faced an orange rainfall warning. A yellow wind warning was in effect for five counties from Friday into Saturday morning.
The value-added information produced by the Copernicus Emergency Management Service offers essential insight into rapidly evolving events such as Storm Claudia, supporting authorities as they assess the extent and consequences of flooding in affected regions.
Featured image credit: European Union, Copernicus Emergency Management Service
