Power to soon return to all homes and businesses after Storm Amy

A white lorry hit by a falling tree with green leaves. The tree is on top of the lorry. A man is walking past on the right, wearing a black coat and jeans. There is a restaurant along the side of the road. The sky is grey.Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

A lorry was hit by a tree in Antrim on Saturday

  • Published

Power is expected to be restored to all homes and businesses in Northern Ireland on Monday after Storm Amy brought disruption over the weekend.

At the height of the storm, which made landfall on Friday, about 65,000 customers were without an electricity supply.

NIE Networks said the worst affected areas for power outages were Craigavon, Enniskillen, Omagh, Downpatrick, Ballymena and Dungannon.

In an update on Sunday evening, NIE said about 100 properties were expected to be without power on Monday morning and crews would restore their electricity supply throughout the day.

Alex Houston, network operations manager, said the high winds had caused "widespread damage".

"We would like to thank those impacted for their patience while our crews worked through the damage caused by the high winds," he said.

"I would also like to thank our teams and contracting partners who once again stepped up and worked long hours over the weekend to ensure power could be restored as quickly as possible."

NIE Networks added that many circuits will require permanent repairs to be put in place which may mean short periods of disconnection over the coming days.

In the Republic of Ireland, some 184,000 properties lost power on Friday, but by Sunday that number had fallen to 2,500.

A man in his 40s died in County Donegal on Friday in a "weather-related incident".

A pedestrian holding an umbrella stands at a set of traffic lights. They are leaning forwards as they are splashed by water from passing cars.Image source, Pacemaker
Image caption,

Storm Amy brought heavy rain and high winds over the weekend

On Friday, flights and trains were cancelled and a number of roads were closed across Northern Ireland due to the storm.

Several trees came down and heavy rain caused flooding in several areas.

The Education Authority (EA) said 33 schools in Northern Ireland had reported "storm-related incidents" - mainly damage to roofs and fallen trees - to its maintenance services.

It added that about 90 schools lost power, but the supply had been restored for all.