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Hydrology Summary Bulletin – December 2025

Hydrology Summary Bulletin outlining the flows in rivers, rainfall, lake and turlough levels, groundwater levels and spring outflows of over 300 stations across Ireland for the month of December, 2025.

December 2025 was mixed overall, mild and wet for the first two thirds of the month and cold and
dry the final third. The south and parts of the west saw the bulk of the rainfall, with the east and
north drier overall. Storm Bram, named by Met Éireann, rapidly intensified as it approached Ireland
from the Azores on Monday 8th and brought heavy rain and widespread gales on Tuesday 9th. High pressure built to the north of Ireland for the final third of the month and kept it mostly dry in an
easterly airflow.

Average river flows for December decreased at 70% of river monitoring stations assessed,
compared to November 2025. Notwithstanding this decrease, 83% of the monthly average river
flows were above the normal long-term range. Lake levels increased at 67% of lake sites monitored
with 87% above the long-term normal range. Groundwater levels increased at 74% the monitoring
sites with 81% above the long-term range. Out of the five spring flows monitored, 3 were in the
‘particularly high’ range and 2 were ‘above normal’.

Front cover of the December Monthly Hydrology Bulletin. A small river is shown with ice on the bank and a small layer of ice covering the river.

Download and read the full Hydrology bulletin for December 2026 here.

About EPA Monthly Hydrology Bulletin: Monthly Hydrology Bulletin – Catchments.ie – Catchments.ie

Access previous EPA monthly Hydrology Bulletins here: Monitoring & Assessment: Freshwater & Marine Publications | Environmental Protection Agency

About author

EPA Catchments Unit

Administrator

The EPA Catchments Unit is based in Dublin, and the team is involved with catchment science, chemistry, ecology, hydromorphology, modelling, Geographic Information Systems and planning. We work with the wider EPA, all of our local authorities, the Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and other public bodies and Departments to ensure we have the best available data and information about our catchments.

Who is involved?
Quite simply, everyone in Ireland has a role to play. This can be from something as simple as making sure you don’t pollute your local stream, or a local community working together to establish a Rivers Trust to enhance the rivers and lakes in their area, to a Government Department or Agency helping a Minister implement a new policy to help protect and enhance all our water bodies.

This website has been developed and is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a collaboration between the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

Local Authority Waters Programme

The Local Authority Waters Programme coordinates the efforts of local authorities and other public bodies in the implementation of the River Basin Management Plan, and supports local community and stakeholder involvement in managing our natural waters, for everyone’s benefit.

Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA is responsible for coordinating the monitoring, assessment and reporting on the status of our 4,842 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives for each.

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department is responsible for making sure that the right policies, regulations and resources are in place to implement the Water Framework Directive, and developing a River Basin Management Plan and Programme of Measures to protect and restore our waters.