Cork homes flooded during heavy rain from Storm Barbet

Flooding in the town of Midleton, County Cork, caused by Storm Babet on Thursday

Storm Babet has brought heavy rain to the island of Ireland, causing severe flooding in County Cork, where hundreds of properties have been damaged.

The Irish army and the Civil Defence helped firefighters to evacuate people from flooded homes and businesses.

Midleton in Cork is the worst affected area, where a nursing home was among the buildings that were flooded.

In Northern Ireland, more than half a month's worth of rain fell in Killowen in County Down in 24 hours.

The weather station in the village recorded 57.6mm of rain between 06:00 on Wednesday and 06:00 on Thursday.

Most of the rain fell in a short period of time on Wednesday evening.

A Met Office yellow rain warning for Northern Ireland, which had been in place since 14:00 BST on Wednesday, expired at 10:00 BST on Thursday.

Another yellow warning for rain comes into effect at 03:00 BST on Friday until 09:00 BST on Saturday, with the Met Office warning of a "small chance"of flooding.

It expects most of Northern Ireland to receive between 10-30mm of rain.

However, parts of the east could see 40-50 mm, with as much as 60-80 mm for the east-facing slopes of the Mournes and Antrim Plateau.

In County Cork, town centre streets in Midleton looked more like rivers on Wednesday after a deluge of rainfall.

Midleton in County Cork was "impassable" as a month's worth of rain fell

Speaking to BBC News NI on Thursday morning, the mayor of County Cork, Frank O'Flynn, said he believed up to 150 properties in the town may now be damaged by flood water.

'People were rescued in boats'

He described seeing "up to four feet" (1.2m) of water in Midleton's Main Street.

"About 94 millilitres of rain fell in 24 hours," he said.

"There were people who had to use boats and canoes. Some people had to be rescued in boats."

A screengrab from a video showing a woman walking through floods in Midletown

Midleton Community Hospital, a residential nursing home which cares for elderly patients, was partially flooded.

Footage on social media shows one ward covered in dirty water.

A number of residents had to be moved to another part of the hospital campus, according to a statement from Cork Kerry Community Healthcare.

It added that six residents were also safely moved from its Owenacurra Centre and are being supported by staff.

On Thursday morning, GardaÍ (Irish police) said Midleton Garda Station was closed due to adverse weather conditions.

"We would like to reassure members of the public that garda units are still working as normal in Midleton," their statement said.

'By far the worst'

The mayor said that two schools in the town were also affected.

Mr O'Flynn recalled that Midleton had been damaged by floods in 2009 and again in 2015, but he added: "This was by far the worst."

"I'm calling for emergency funding from the government for the homes and businesses which have been damaged, and also for a flood alleviation plan," he said.

His plan would include the erection of flood barriers to protect Midleton.

Midleton was the worst affected area

Just before 19:00 local time on Wednesday evening, Cork County Council said the town was "impassable with over 100 properties flooded".

It said it had established a coordination centre for the emergency services in Midleton fire station and a rest centre for members of the public at the local community centre.

• Yellow rain warning in place for Storm Babet

Cork County Council tweeted that it was aware of flooding in other local towns and villages including Carrigaline, Castletownbere, Ringaskiddy, Whitegate, Rathcormac, Glandore, Halfwa and Raffeen.

Irish public service broadcaster RTÉ said there were also reports of flooding in Killeagh and Youghal in County Cork.

Cork City Fire Brigade said it had drafted in extra resources and its crews were "working hard in difficult conditions around the city to alleviate flooding".

A member of the Dâil (Irish parliament) described the extent of the damage in Midleton as devastating.

James O'Connor from Fianna Fáil tweeted that Irish meteorological service Met Éireann "must urgently explain why no red level weather warning was issued".

• Storm Babet: What do you need to know?

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Babet is the second named storm of this autumn season and it was forecast to bring heavy rain and strong winds to the UK and Ireland.

The Met Office has said the stormy weather could last until Saturday.