Thousands of homes and businesses across Ireland have been left without electricity, while flights and ferry services have been disrupted following strong winds and heavy rainfall brought by Storm Boelo.
Northern Ireland Electricity reported that about 7,000 customers in Northern Ireland were affected by power outages, while approximately 41,000 homes, farms and businesses in the Republic of Ireland were without electricity on Sunday morning.
Springfield in County Fermanagh and Bushmills in County Antrim were among the worst-hit areas in Northern Ireland, with more than 1,000 homes near each village losing power.
In the Republic of Ireland, Milford in County Donegal recorded more than 1,600 homes without electricity, while over 1,200 properties in Aghagad, County Sligo, were also affected.
An ESB Networks spokesperson said north-western parts of the Republic of Ireland were bearing the brunt of the outages.
“As Met Éireann weather warnings remain in place, there may be further power outages this morning,” they said.
ESB Networks said repair teams had been deployed to affected locations and expected most customers to have their electricity restored by Sunday evening.
Meanwhile, flights were cancelled at Belfast City Airport, Belfast International Airport and Dublin Airport as strong winds continued to affect air travel.
At Belfast City Airport, several departing flights to Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester and Kirkwall were cancelled on Sunday morning.
Arrivals from Edinburgh, Leeds Bradford, Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham and Inverness were also affected.
Belfast International Airport reported 17 flight cancellations, warning passengers to expect possible delays.
“Storm Boelo continues to cause some disruption to flights today. Please check with your airline for latest flight information as delays can be expected,” a spokesperson said.
At Dublin Airport, operator daa reported that 12 inbound and 12 outbound flights had been cancelled, mainly because of weather conditions in other countries.
Graeme McQueen, a spokesperson for daa, advised passengers to proceed to the airport as planned while maintaining contact with their airlines.
He also warned that further disruption remained possible because of the wind warnings.
Ferry services were also affected, with Stena Line cancelling its Sunday morning sailings from Belfast to Cairnryan and Liverpool.
Services from Cairnryan to Belfast were disrupted, while the Dublin-Holyhead route continued to operate without reported problems.
P&O Ferries also cancelled sailings scheduled for 08:00 and 12:00 from Cairnryan and Larne because of the storm.
Several roads in Northern Ireland were closed or partially blocked by fallen trees, according to the police.
Springwell Road in Groomsport, County Down, was closed, while Cootehall Road in Crawfordsburn was reduced to one lane.
The Ballyrobin Road in County Antrim and Glenshane Road in County Londonderry, which had earlier become impassable, were subsequently reopened.
An amber weather warning covering parts of County Antrim and County Londonderry expired at 10:00 GMT on Sunday, while a yellow warning remained in force across Northern Ireland until midday.
A separate yellow wind warning for County Donegal was due to remain in place until 15:00 local time.
The storm brought powerful gusts across the region on Saturday.
Orlock Head in County Down recorded Northern Ireland’s strongest gust at 78mph, while winds reached 73mph in Magilligan, County Londonderry, and 70mph in Castlederg, County Tyrone.
In the Republic of Ireland, Malin Head in County Donegal recorded gusts of 83mph before an orange wind warning expired at 09:00 local time on Sunday.
Heavy rainfall also affected parts of Northern Ireland, with Castlederg and Lough Fea in the Sperrins recording nearly 40mm.
Killylane in the Antrim Glens received more than 30mm, while Stormont in Belfast recorded 30mm.
Although Sunday was expected to be drier, strong winds and occasional showers were forecast to continue, with gusts approaching 70mph possible in exposed coastal areas into the afternoon. Winds were expected to ease later in the day.
However, further unsettled weather was forecast for the beginning of the week, as another deep area of low pressure was expected to bring strong winds from Monday into Tuesday.
The Met Office had issued a yellow wind warning for parts of Northern Ireland, with the possibility of further updates.
Conditions were expected to become calmer, drier and less windy during the second half of the week.
