Thousands of homes, farms and businesses across the island of Ireland were without electricity on Sunday after Storm Boello brought strong winds and severe weather. Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) reported that 7,000 customers were affected in Northern Ireland, while around 41,000 properties in the Republic of Ireland had lost power. Flights were also canceled at Belfast City, Belfast International and Dublin airports.
Power outages in Northern Ireland
The worst-hit areas in Northern Ireland included Springfield in County Fermanagh and Bushmills in County Antrim, where more than 1,000 homes near each village were without power.
An NIE spokesperson said strong winds and bad weather from Saturday night into early Sunday morning had “caused significant damage to the power grid and caused power outages to some customers.”
NIE said customers could check estimated restoration times using its power check tool.
Outages in the Republic of Ireland
A spokesperson for ESB Networks said properties were primarily affected in the north-west of the Republic of Ireland.
“The Met Alien Weather Warning remains in place, so further power outages are possible this morning,” the spokesperson said.
Among the worst-hit locations were Milford in County Donegal, where more than 1,600 homes were without power, and Agagad in County Sligo, where more than 1,200 homes were affected.
ESB Networks said workers were operating in all affected areas and that it “expects the majority of affected customers to have supply restored by this evening.”
Wind warnings
A yellow wind warning was in place across Northern Ireland until midday. A separate yellow wind warning for County Donegal was due to remain in force until 3pm local time on Sunday.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk