185,000 without power in Northern Ireland

The clear-up operation is continuing after Storm Éowyn caused chaos across Northern Ireland on Friday.

It brought winds of more than 90mph and, at the peak, left 30% of homes and businesses without power.

About 185,000 properties were still without electricity.

Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) Networks say some residents will be without power for up to 10 days.

Northern Ireland saw the highest gust in 27 years, with 92.2mph (148km/h) recorded at Killowen in County Down on Friday.

The rare red weather warning, which came in on Friday morning, ended at 14:00 GMT.

A major clean up is under way in the north west after a large tree came down outside the Parochial House at St Patrick’s church in Pennyburn.

The church authorities had taken the precaution of having a number of other trees, which were a potential danger, trimmed down previously.

Services at the chapel are unaffected.

In County Fermanagh, thousands of properties remain without power.

Many buildings suffered damage including the former tourist office in the centre of Enniskillen.

A large tree fell at the Round O jetty, in Enniskillen, narrowly missing boats moored nearby.

Along with further wind warnings until midnight on Friday, a snow and ice warning was issued across Northern Ireland from 19:00 on Friday until 10:00 on Saturday.

Before the storm hit, the Met Office said there was a danger to life and political leaders urged people to stay at home.

As the strong winds swept across the island of Ireland there was damage to buildings and trees fell down, blocking roads and damaging homes.

Schools, colleges, universities and businesses closed and most hospital appointments were cancelled as the storm caused significant disruption.

Rail and bus services and flights were also affected.

The NIE Networks said Storm Éowyn caused “devastating levels of damage” to the electricity network in Northern Ireland.

“Almost one third of the people here have no power,” said Derek Hynes from NIE.

He said there are about 5,000 locations in Northern Ireland where trees are down or there has been damage to the NIE network.

He said they are “prioritising faults” which affect the largest numbers of homes and businesses, but that it’s likely that it will take up to 10 days to restore power to all residents.

In Newtownards, the Craigantlet Road, from the junction of Dunlady Road up to the Cairn Wood Car Park, is closed because of “hazardous conditions that have already resulted in multiple vehicles falling off the road”, the PSNI has said.

Several community hubs, operated by councils, are available across Northern Ireland for people who have been impacted by power cuts.

Train services are suspended on Saturday for specialist teams to carry out “safety checks”.

Translink said: “They will continue working to clear the railway lines and get vital repairs underway.”

Metro, Glider and Ulsterbus services returned on Friday with some diversions in place due to ongoing road closures and clearance work in the wake of the storm.

However, Translink said rail lines will be opened gradually due to “extensive damage” across the network.

“There has been unprecedented damage with dozens of incidents across the rail network with the storm bringing trees down on tracks and damage to barriers and other structures,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Belfast International Airport said they are “operating a full schedule today,” but advised passengers to “check with their airline directly as to the status of their flight in case there is any continuing impact from the storm”.

Police are advising the public that some roads across Northern Ireland may remain impassable on Saturday morning, and everyone should take extra care on their journeys.

Fallen trees, power lines and debris may make driving conditions hazardous.

In the Republic of Ireland, where a red warning was also in place, about 460,000 are without power as of 12:15 local time on Saturday, down from a peak of 768,000 earlier on Friday.

A man died after a tree fell on the car he was driving in Raphoe, County Donegal.

ESB Networks described the storm as “record-breaking” and said it had never experienced so many power cuts in the country before with any extreme weather event.

A spokesperson for Uisce Éireann said more than 120,000 people are without water and warned that supplies for a further 400,000 people were at risk.

Provisional new records for wind speed were recorded in the Republic Ireland, with hurricane-force sustained winds of 85 mph (137 km/h) at Mace Head, County Galway.

Meanwhile, further weather warnings have been issued across Northern Ireland ahead of Storm Herminia.

This storm has been named by the Spanish Met Office, with more impacts expected there.

The system is not forecast to be as severe for Northern Ireland as Storm Éowyn.

A yellow weather warning for snow and ice in Northern Ireland will start at 18:00 GMT on Saturday and will last until 10:00 on Sunday.

A yellow wind warning will then be in place from 10:00 GMT to 19:00 on Sunday.

The Met Office is warning of gusts between 40 to 50 mph, with coasts and hills possibly seeing gusts of up to 60 mph.

Those gusts could hamper clean up operations and repairs following Storm Éowyn.

Storm Éowyn is the fifth named storm of the season. It has been caused by powerful jet stream winds pushing low pressure towards the UK and Ireland over the Atlantic Ocean after a recent cold spell over North America.

Red is the most serious weather warning the Met Office can issue, meaning dangerous weather is expected and people are urged to take action to keep themselves and others safe.

It was the first time a red weather warning was issued for Northern Ireland since an impact-based system was introduced in 2011.

To report faults or emergencies you should contact:

• Northern Ireland Housing Executive: 03448 920 901
• Openreach: 08000 23 20 23
• Gas networks: 0800 002001
• NI Water: 03457 44 00 88 or visit niwater.com
• Flooding Incident Line: 0300 2000 100
• NIE Networks: 03457 643 643 or visit nienetworks.co.uk