A major mopping-up operation is getting under way in the Republic today after a chaotic weekend of rain storms.

While numerous major roads were closed by flooding, a train came off its rails in Co Laois after downpours caused a landslide on to the track.

Stones smashed into windows of the front passenger carriage of the Dublin-to-Cork service as the engine careered off the track, witnesses said. Travellers were shaken up, but transport chiefs said no-one was injured during the incident on Saturday, just south of Portarlington Station.

Meanwhile, many cars were caught in flash floods on Saturday.

In Arklow, Councillor Pat Fitzgerald was applauded for rescuing a woman and her two children just outside the town. The Fianna Fail town councillor helped the family out of the back window of their car when it became trapped in the River Webbs.

The Midlands and Kilkenny were among the worst-hit areas, with serious flooding affecting parts of Kildare, Westmeath, Offaly, Tipperary and Laois.

One man had to be rescued after a river burst its banks and left him marooned in his home.