Homes flooded and travel hit by Storm Bert- QHN

A number of homes have been flooded in counties Down and Tyrone following hours of heavy rain and wind caused by Storm Bert.

Travel is also heavily disrupted, with roads and train lines affected by flooding, fallen trees and other debris.

The railway line between Belfast and Antrim remains closed, while the line between Belfast and Dublin has reopened after being shut earlier, public transport operator Translink said.

About 3,500 customers are without power, with most of those in the south east and north west.

Homes near Moat Park, in Dundonald on the outskirts of east Belfast, have been affected by flooding as have a number of homes in Coalisland, County Tyrone.

Firefighters helped to pump away the water in Dundonald, but a children’s playpark is surrounded by flood water.

Mid Ulster councillor Dan Kerr told BBC News NI he had been contacted by three of four residents whose homes have been flooded at Kings Row, Coalisland.

He said the firefighters and staff from the Rivers Agency were at the scene and sandbags had been secured from a nearby Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club.

by Linzi Lima, BBC News NI reporter in Dundonald

The fire service are pumping water at Park Avenue, where a number of residents cannot get out of their houses.

Kelly Kitchen’s son and his partner are among those residents. She says her son told her he woke this morning after 09:00 to find his house had been flooded.

He hasn’t been able to leave. A video of his home shows a fridge floating in the kitchen and a couple of feet of dirty water on the ground floor.

The fire service arrived after 09:00 and have been pumping the excess water since. It is receding slowly as residents watch. Some have gone to the nearby church hall to stay warm and dry while the operation continues.

Yellow warnings for rain, wind and snow were in force for the whole of Northern Ireland until 11:00 GMT on Saturday.

The strongest winds in Northern Ireland – at 67mph – were recorded in Ballypatrick, County Antrim, while Derrylin in County Fermanagh recorded a quarter of its average November rainfall in 12 hours overnight.

Police officers advised “extreme caution” to anyone driving in the Causeway Coast and Glens Council area due to snow early on Saturday morning.

The TrafficWatchNI service reported “very difficult driving conditions” on some higher areas including the Glenshane Pass, Windyhill Road in Limavady and Glenpark Road, Omagh.

A gritter vehicle got stranded in snow on the Coleraine Mountain Road, which was closed for a period.

In addition to the snow:

• A roof was reportedly blown off a shed in Dungiven, County Londonderry, causing an obstruction on the Ballyquinn Road.
• Belfast’s Ravenhill Road was said to be “impassable” near Martyrs Memorial Church due to flooding.
• A tree and utility lines came down onto the Belfast Road in Newtownards, partially obstructed the road.
• In County Tyrone the Dergbrough Road, Plumbridge, is closed due to a fallen tree while the Coast Road in Ballygally, County Antrim, is closed because of a rock fall.
• The Hillhall Road, Lisburn, is closed in both direction at its junctions with the Pinehill Road and Ballylesson Road, due to flooding.
• The Broadway roundabout was briefly closed due to flooding near the Royal Victoria Hospital but has since reopened.
• P&O Ferries cancelled Saturday’s 04:00 GMT ferry between Larne and Cairnryan but said passengers would be accommodated on the 08:00 sailing.

Translink has list of all its disrupted bus and rail services on its website.

Strongest winds up to 10:00 this morning:

108km/h – 67mph Ballypatrick, Antrim

106km/h – 66mph Magilligan, Derry

100km/h – 62mph Orlock Head, Down

87km/h – 54mph Killowen, Down

82km/h – 51mph Thomastown, Fermanagh

Rain amounts from 18:00 Friday until 06:00 this morning

Derrylin in Fermanagh recorded a quarter of a months rain in 12 hours until 06:00GMT on Saturday, with 33mm. The average rainfall for November is 122.5.

Derrylin, Fermanagh 32mm

Thomastown, Fermanagh 23.8mm

Killowen, Down 21.8mm

Armagh 21.8mm

Glenanne, Armagh 20.2mm

In the Republic of Ireland, about 60,000 homes are without power, after Storm Bert descended overnight.

Met Éireann (the Irish Meteorological Service) had issued red warnings for heavy rain in west Cork and west Galway.

It warned this could cause severe flooding and damage to property in the affected areas, as well as difficult driving conditions.

Images posted online appeared to show that the River Feale in west Limerick had burst its banks.

In County Donegal a status yellow warning is in force for snow/ice, rain and strong wind until noon.

There has also been major flooding on Bridge Street in Killybegs.

Aside from Donegal, the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) said power cuts were most prevalent in counties Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Cavan, Monaghan, Kerry and Cork.

The naming of storms is a practice which helps meteorologists communicate with the public when they need to advise of dangerous or disruptive weather events.

Certain criteria have to be met before a storm is given a name.

Bert is the second named storm of the 2024/25 season which began on 1 September.

It was named by Ireland’s Met Éireann on Thursday because Irish forecasters believed it could bring severe disruption to the Republic of Ireland.

Met Éireann works in partnership with the UK Met Office and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (RNMI) every year to monitor, classify and names storms.

The three organisations agree an alphabetical list in advance of each season.

Storm Bert was preceded by disruptive snow in some parts of Northern Ireland on Friday.