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Hydrology Summary Bulletin – February 2026

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 February, 2026.

February 2026 saw a continuation of the same pattern that dominated the second half of January.
This pattern led to another very wet month for the east and south of the country, with the west
and northwest drier. There was particularly heavy rainfall in the east on Thursday 5th and Friday 6th
and again between Wednesday 11th and Friday 13th. It was milder and duller than average
everywhere, especially the east. The final third of the month saw a more typical Atlantic dominated
winter weather pattern, several frontal rain bands crossed the country from west to east,
interspersed with showers, sometimes thundery, with some dry periods in between.

Average river flows in February increased at two thirds of the 136 river monitoring stations
assessed, compared to January 2026. 74% of the monthly average river flows were above the
normal long-term range with particularly high river flows recorded along the eastern seaboard
resulting in flooding in places.

Lake levels increased at 90% of lake sites monitored with 41% of lake and turloughs above the long
term normal range. Groundwater levels also increased at almost all the monitoring sites with 67%
above the long-term range. Out of the five spring flows monitored, 4 were in the ‘above normal’
range and 1 was classified as ‘normal’.

Download and read the full Hydrology bulletin for February 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.

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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.