The North was bracing itself for another 24 hours of continuous rain and gales last night with large parts of counties Armagh, Down and Antrim affected by flooding and localised power cuts.
Since Sunday it has rained non-stop in the south and east of Northern Ireland making driving conditions treacherous and leading to ferry services being cancelled. Weather forecasters yesterday predicted a further deterioration of conditions as the wind picked up to 60 m.p.h. Almost 350 homes in the Mallusk area on the outskirts of Belfast and in Lisburn, Co Antrim, suffered power cuts for several hours.
A spokesman for the weather centre in Belfast said conditions were unlikely to improve for at least another 24 hours.
Rail passengers travelling from Belfast to Dublin faced disruption after a landslide blocked the line at Skerries, in north Co Dublin, yesterday afternoon. Services resumed but the north-bound route remained closed for a while and when back in operation, trains were delayed for up to 105 minutes. Rail services to Derry, Larne, Co Antrim, and Bangor, Co Down, faced 20-minute delays with one evening train to Bangor suspended.