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Electricity restored to all of NI after Storm Boelo

Holly FleckBBC News NI
News imageStephen Henderson A large wave crashing up against the pier in Portstewart. There is a house or apartment building at the side of the shore. There are greens fields on top of the cliff.Stephen Henderson
Waves crashed along the pier in Portstewart, County Londonderry, during the storm on Sunday

Electricity has been restored to all properties across Northern Ireland after Storm Boelo, Northern Ireland Electricity Networks (NIE) has said.

At the weekend, the storm saw gusts of wind reach almost 80mph in some areas and led to flights and ferries being cancelled.

A Met Office yellow warning for strong winds, mainly along the Antrim and Down coasts, lasts from 18:00 GMT on Monday until 03:00 Tuesday.

Meanwhile in the Republic of Ireland, an ESB spokesperson said there are "a number of homes, farms and businesses still without electricity" on Monday morning, and that teams are working to restore the power to all properties.

A second wind warning along the north coast of Antrim and Londonderry comes into place at 03:00 GMT on Tuesday until 21:00 GMT.

The Met Office is expecting gusts up to 50mph (80km/h) in Monday's warning zone, and up to 65mph (105km/h) on exposed coastal areas.

Gusts up to 60mph (105km/h) are again expected in Tuesday's warning, with stronger winds for more exposed coastal areas.

News imagePacemaker Press A yellow, orange and blue patterned police jeep parked in the middle of a road with a fallen down tree in front of it.Pacemaker Press
A number of trees fell on roads across Northern Ireland at weekend

About 5,000 homes, farms and businesses were still without electricity on Sunday evening in the Republic of Ireland.

Although some faults occurred overnight in Northern Ireland, and are showing on NIE's Powercheck tool, they are not believed to be storm related.

NIE said around 12,500 properties were without power at one stage after Storm Boelo.

Flights were cancelled at airports across the island of Ireland at the weekend including about 40 flights at Belfast International Airport and about 30 at Dublin Airport.

A spokesperson for Translink said that some bus services were diverted over the weekend due to fallen debris and rail restrictions were put in place in affected areas.

"Stormy conditions also increase 'leaf fall' at this time of year which can impact train services and our infrastructure crews will be deployed to clear any debris potentially blocking railway lines," they added.

News imageDurkan has short dark hair and facial hair. He is wearing a navy suit jacket, a green striped tie and a white shirt.
Mark H Durkan said the infrastructural capacity of Derry needs increased

On Sunday, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said around 470 incidents had been reported to the department, including fallen trees and flooding.

The Foyle Bridge was closed on Saturday due to high winds but reopened again on Sunday evening.

Foyle SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said he understood the need to close the Foyle Bridge during Storm Boelo, but said its prolonged closure caused major traffic congestion throughout the city.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today, Durkan said redirecting vehicles to the lower deck of the Craigavon Bridge caused a traffic build-up and showed that the city was in desperate need of a third bridge.

"The infrastructural capacity of Derry needs increased; I don't think two vehicular bridges for a city of this side and a population of this city is enough."

Waves crashing along the pier in Portstewart during Storm Boelo

In the Republic of Ireland, wind and rain warnings have also been issued for most counties along the south and west coasts on Monday evening.

Much improved weather conditions are expected on Wednesday with calmer and sunnier weather in the forecast.