Heavy rain and flooding saw motorists stuck in extremely heavy traffic on all approaches to Dublin this morning.

The AA says the worst of the delays was on the M4, where drivers crawled along the 22 kilometre stretch from the Maynooth exit right through to the M50. Adjoining routes were also extremely congested, offering no alternative route for commuters.

"We're more used to seeing this kind of congestion during flooding but this morning the rain came down like any normal day in autumn and traffic was still extremely heavy" the AA said in a statement.

Tuesdays are usually the busiest mornings but the rain seemed to particularly impact road users today.

From early in the morning the Swords Road was very congested with delays from the motorway entrance to the Port Tunnel right through to Drumcondra.

As the rain continued, traffic on the M50 began to worsen, and before 9am there was a 15 kilometre tailback from the airport exit on the M1, onto the M50 southbound and through to junction 7, the exit for Lucan and the N4.

The AA says we can expect long tailbacks this evening, too

Motorists travelling from Meath towards Dublin were faced with an 11.5 kilometre delay from Clonee to the M50. At its heaviest, traffic on the N7 Naas Rd was congested from before junction 4 for Rathcoole through to Newlands Cross.

Those travelling in from Wicklow towards Dublin had to deal with a lot of excess surface water along the N11, and there was also congestion from Newtownmountkennedy through to the Glen of The Downs.

Closer to Dublin traffic worsened, with delays from Cabinteely through to Donnybrook, a distance of 8 kilometres.

The AA Rescue Call Centre says it saw a "significant increase" in call-outs.

Arwen Foley from AA Roadwatch has more details - but also warns that with that amount of cars in the capital, the evening commute could be just as bad.