Storms cause flooding and disruption

Flooding has caused disruption in parts of Northern Ireland after more than a month's worth of rain fell within a few hours.

A number of elderly people had to leave their homes in the County Antrim village of Muckamore due to flooding.

One pensioner told the BBC that at one stage there was more than one foot of water and sewage at her front door.

Downpours led to havoc on the roads, cancelled flights and left hundreds of homes and businesses without power.

'Horrendous'

The Met Office upgraded its weather warning to amber for Saturday afternoon, and said that as well as disruption on the roads and rail network, buildings were at risk of damage from flooding and lightning strikes.

A less severe yellow warning for rain was in place across all counties but that ended on Saturday evening.

Muckamore resident, Florence Allison, described the scene as she was forced to leave her home.

"It's just horrendous - water everywhere. It's coming in some people's back doors and out the front because they opened their doors.

"My doors haven't been opened but it has come in, seeped in below the doors in my dining room and my kitchen and the front hall."

She said she would not know how much damage had been done until she was able to get back inside.

Mrs Allison added that the situation was "very upsetting" for herself and her elderly neighbours.

Traffic struggled through the Stockman's Lane underpass in Belfast

The Met Office said Belfast International Airport recorded an "incredible" 88.2mm of rainfall on Saturday afternoon.

The figure was more than the average rainfall for the whole of July - 81.2mm.

Stranded passengers

The severe weather resulted in at lease five flights being cancelled at the airport, while other passengers complained of long delays at baggage collection.

The cancellations have affected customers travelling between Belfast and Faro, Naples, Glasgow and Gdansk.

EasyJet customer Cathal O'Doherty told BBC News NI that he and up to 240 other Belfast-bound passengers were stranded in Naples Airport after an earlier flight from Belfast did not take off.

In a message on its flight tracker service, easyJet apologised and said the cancellation was "due to adverse weather in Belfast which caused delays with ground handling services", which in turn caused crew on the flight to "reach their maximum legal working hours".

Belfast International Airport's business development director, Uel Hoey, confirmed that for a short period on Saturday afternoon, ground staff had to stop working due to safety concerns caused by the "horrendous" weather.

He explained that passengers could not be taken on and off aircraft when there was "thunder and lightning above the airfield".

Mr Hoey added it was not the only UK airport to be affected and said his staff "did what they had to do to keep people safe".

Flooding in Saintfield, County Down

Tamsin Armstrong, who returned to Belfast from Portugal, said she and her young family had to wait three hours and 20 minutes to collect their bags.

She said there were "hundreds of people crammed into baggage reclaim" and described the communication as "completely useless".

Manhole covers

Across Northern Ireland, officials from councils and other agencies held a telephone conference on Saturday to discuss the response to the severe weather.

"All agencies have been in a state of readiness since Friday and are responding to numerous calls from across Northern Ireland," a statement said.

"The rain is expected to lessen from 19:00 BST onwards however all agencies will continue to monitor the situation and take action accordingly."

Flooding caused significant delays on the A1 outside Dromore

In other developments:

• Delays on the A1 in Dromore, County Down, due to flooding

• Asda stores in Larne, Antrim and Ballyclare were deluged and two of them were forced to close for a few hours to mop up the foyers

• Translink cancelled some buses

• Glenavy Road, Upper Ballinderry, Lisburn, closed at the Moira roundabout due to flooding

• Reports of drivers having to pull over at Nutts Corner near Belfast International Airport

• Lurgan's Lough Road was also affected

• Outside Newcastle, at Bloody Bridge, there were reports of major traffic delays because of rising water

• In Belfast, a number of manhole covers have been pushed up causing flooding on the Upper Malone Road

• Belfast City Council has made sandbags available to residents - they can be collected from St John the Baptist School, Finaghy Road North, and Whiterock Leisure Centre

• Motorbike racing at Armoy was abandoned because of the bad weather.

Some shops in the Andersontown area of Belfast experienced flooding

Police say they are receiving a high number calls relating to flooding and are asking people to call Floodline in the first instance on 0300 2000 100.

The police have also asked drivers to slow down and take care on the roads.