Thousands left without power in Northern Ireland after Storm Isha

One of the iconic Dark Hedges trees in north Antrim fell as Storm Isha raged

Thousands of homes in Northern Ireland remain without power after Storm Isha caused severe disruption.

NIE Networks said about 13,000 customers were without electricity at 21:00 GMT on Monday, with 53,000 customers affected since Sunday.

Director Randal Gilbert said restoring power could take a number of days.

He warned that Storm Jocelyn, which is due to hit NI on Tuesday, "could hamper restoration efforts and potentially cause more damage".

On Sunday night, a motorist died after a tree hit their car in Limavady, County Londonderry.

A number of primary schools were closed on Monday, including Nettlefield in Belfast, St Mary's in County Tyrone, and Killinchy and Meadow Bridge in County Down.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said a number of roads across Northern Ireland remain impassable on Monday due to the storm.

Earlier, the PSNI said it had dealt with about 600 storm-related calls.

In the Republic of Ireland, about 68,000 homes and businesses are without power, as of 21:00 local time.

Storm Jocelyn announced

A further spell of very windy weather could bring further disruption this week as Storm Jocelyn approaches from the Atlantic.

The storm has been named after Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a leading astrophysicist from Northern Ireland, by Irish weather service Met Éireann.

There will be a yellow warning for Northern Ireland from 16:00 on Tuesday.

The wind alert will stay in place until 13:00 on Wednesday after which the winds should begin to ease.

Although not expected to be as severe as Storm Isha, the Met Office is warning of wind gusts up to 65mph (105km/h), possibly stronger in more exposed locations.

On Monday, PSNI Ch Supt Davy Beck said there is "a continued risk of significant debris on the road network" and he urged "extreme caution" for road users.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said it received 236 emergency calls on Sunday in relation to the storm and mobilised to 96 incidents.

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Colin Sykes, from the Department for Infrastructure, said it had been a "very difficult" with more than 1,000 incidents reported, including 930 reports of fallen trees and branches.

He added ongoing industrial action had "disrupted our ability to provide services", but contingency plans, including diverting other staff and using private contractors, are in place.

This means the response will be slower but, he added: "We will start to work through all of the priority routes and start to unblock as much as we can."

Dark Hedges hit

Three of the iconic Dark Hedges trees in County Antrim have also been damaged as a result of the storm.

One of the trees, which had been deemed unsafe in a recent report, was marked to come down, but the other two were deemed to be "in a good state of health", Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust chief Graham Thompson said.

He added one of the healthier trees also blew across the lane, damaging another and will also need to come down.

This was the scene at Irish Street in the Waterside area of Londonderry on Monday morning

The managing director of Belfast International Airport, Graham Keddie, said Sunday was "tough" for its teams, but most aircraft had landed and they had returned to "virtually normal operations" on Monday.

Translink said a tree had fallen on the Lisburn train line, causing delays and disruption to the Portadown to Bangor rail line.

It added that due to exceptional weather all train lines are disrupted on Monday morning. Travel updates are available here.

A fallen tree knocked over a street light on Church Road in the Castlereagh Hills

The PSNI said a multi-agency response continues to deal with the aftermath and recovery from Storm Isha and thanked the public for their "continued patience and understanding".

The Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs said Peatlands Park and Crawfordsburn Country Park are closed due to fallen trees. It added that car parking facilities and paths have been "impacted at Roe Valley Country Park, Ness Country Park and Banagher National Nature Reserve".

A yellow weather warning for high winds ended at noon after an earlier amber warning.

A status yellow warning was in place for six counties in the Republic of Ireland and there is a warning in place until 23:00 for coastal areas.

Escalated response

Claire Scullion, from NIE Networks, told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme: "The force of the gusts and the sustained nature over several hours caused significant damage and the flying debris.

"The fallen trees and the weather conditions made repairs very difficult over the night. We would say to the public, please do not approach any broken poles, overhead lines or any damaged electrical equipment."

Power outages or any incidents of damage to the electricity network can be reported to the NIE Networks Customer Helpline on 03457 643 643.

• NIE Networks - Power Check map

The disruption has affected thousands of air passengers across the UK and Ireland.

Among the flights diverted from Belfast International Airport on Sunday was a plane from Bulgaria carrying a group including 19 pupils and three teachers from Mill Strand Integrated Primary School in Portrush.

Principal Philip Reid said they experienced "extreme turbulence" as the plane made two attempts to land before being diverted to Manchester.

David Cox, who was on holiday in Gran Canaria, had his flight to Belfast diverted to Paris.

Describing himself as a nervous passenger, he said it was a "nightmare" scenario, and the landing in France was also "very blustery" and "very shaky".

Severe weather warnings were also in place for much of Great Britain.

Storm Isha marked the ninth named storm of the season, which started on 1 September, and is the first storm beginning with the letter 'I' since February 2016.

It follows in the wake of Storm Henk, which wreaked havoc and caused severe damage in parts of the UK in early January.