It caused devastation.
On the night of 25 July, 1985, Ireland was hit by one of the worst thunderstorms in this country’s history.
Widespread thunder and lighting caused huge damage to crops and farm buildings and hundreds of animals were killed when they were struck by lightning.
The synoptic situation at midnight showed a shallow low pressure system off the south east coast of Ireland.
Pressure was falling slowly as an airflow tended to displace the moist Atlantic air over the country. As a result widespread and spectacular thunderstorm activity occurred throughout the evening of the 25 July and continued overnight.
Here’s a quick glimpse of the lightning from an RTÉ report from the morning after.
Heavy precipitation in a short period caused flooding around the country with areas like Dundrum, Blackrock and Sandymount in Dublin suffering considerable flooding.
In the weather report from the storm, Met Éireann wrote: “Widespread and spectacular thunderstorm activity occurred throughout the evening of 25th and continued overnight and into the morning of the 26th of July
“Hundreds of farm animals were killed by lightning and large hailstones damaged tillage crops and crops of apples and fruit. The flooding which accompanied the storm affected farm buildings, house, supermarkets, and stores worst hit areas.”
In the report on the rain, Met Éireann said: “Many areas recorded over 50 millimetres of rainfall in the 24 hour period ending 09 hours 26/7/’85.
“In these areas at the height of the storm, rain or hair with a water equivalent of 20-30mm fell in a 30 minute period. Unfortunately most rain gauges in the severe storm are are read on a daily beaded and short duration records are available for a limited number of locations only.
“An observer near Naas, Co. Kildare reported a shower of heavy and large hail with equivalent rainfall of 30 mm in a period of 30 to 40 minutes.
“In Oak Park in Carlow, 22mm of rain fell in 15 minutes. In Coon in Kilkenny, 29 mm of rain fell in 30 minutes.”
You can read the full report here.
But, we highly recommend you also check out the RTÉ report from the morning after the storm hit so you can get an idea of the lightning that struck the country on the night.
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