Train lines have reopened in Northern Ireland but thousands of homes remain without power following Storm Darragh.
Gusts of up to 70mph caused extensive damage to the electricity network in the north, with 48,000 customers losing power at the peak of the storm.
Co Antrim saw the most impact, with power station EP Ballylumford temporarily halting electricity generation on Saturday following damage to a chimney and scores of roads blocked by fallen trees.
A bus also crashed close to Belfast International Airport and a loyalist mural in north Belfast was damaged.
On Sunday morning, public transport provider Translink said all rail lines were open, although some speed restrictions are in place.
Stormont infrastructure minister John O’Dowd thanked those involved in responding to the effects of Storm Darragh.
From 3pm on Friday to 6am on Sunday, 1,336 incidents were reported on Northern Ireland’s roads - 1,000 of which were caused by fallen trees and branches.
Mr O’Dowd said: “This is the third named storm of the season to fall across a weekend and I want to thank the multi-agency staff who have once again risen to the challenge and have worked together very effectively to keep the public safe”.
NIE Networks said around 7,000 remained without power by Sunday evening. They have indicated it may take a number of days to reconnect some customers.
#TRAIN #ENT #UPDATE Following disruption yesterday caused by #StormDarragh all rail lines are open today.
Speed restrictions are in place so please allow for some knock on delays/disruption
ℹ️ Real time updates can be found here – https://t.co/9MDxHQ8NBE
— Translink (@Translink_NI) December 8, 2024
Network operations manager Alex Houston said engineers are working to restore customers as quickly as possible.
“Most of the faults affecting high numbers of customers have been repaired which has allowed us to restore significant numbers of customers,” he said.
“However, there are still around 1,200 faults across the network, some of which are affecting very small numbers of customers, so we do anticipate that it will take some time before we can get all of these cleared.
“Engineers will be working to restore customers as quickly as they can and we will provide further updates as soon as we are able to.”
Community assistance centres are set to open later for those still without power.
South Lake leisure centre in Craigavon, Lagan Valley Leisureplex in Lisburn, Blair Mayne in Newtownards, Seven Towers in Ballymena, Cookstown leisure centre, Kilkeel leisure centre and Fermanagh Lakeland Forum will open from 2pm to 4pm offering warm drinks as well as charging and changing facilities.
Additionally, Coleraine leisure centre will open from noon until 3pm and the Red Cross will be working with NIE Networks to provide support at Draperstown Centra, Islandmagee Spar and Newtownstewart Spar from 2pm – 4pm.
NIE Networks is also reminding the public to stay clear of any damaged electricity equipment, keep children and animals away and to report any incidents of damage immediately to the NIE Networks customer helpline on 03457 643 643.
