NI escapes the worst of Storm Dylan despite amberwarning
STORM Dylan passed over Northern Ireland causing little or no damage despite an amber weather warning being issued by the Met Office.
An amber warning, which was in place across Northern Ireland from 2am to 3pm yesterday, is issued when, according to the Met Office, “there is a potential for damage to buildings such as tiles blown from roofs and debris”.
The forecast was for “some very strong winds” with “a chance of damage to buildings with the potential for injuries and danger to life from flying debris”.
Disruption to road, air and ferry services were also forecast, along with the possibility of power cuts.
However, most areas escaped the worst of the storm and just 500 homes in Craigavon were left without power as a result of the strong winds.
A spokesman for Northern Ireland Electricity said a full team of engineers had been put on standby following the Met Office’s warning.
“He said: “At 6am on Sunday there were around 500 homes in Craigavon without power as a result of the storm, and two thirds of those had power restored by 8am.
“From 9am onwards, there were around 100 homes without power.
“This was a bad storm but by no means the worst we have had but regardless, we have to use the same emergency plan which we escalate once we were made aware of the amber warning issued by the Met Office.”
Gusts of 59mph were recorded at Magilligan in Co Londonderry, but the strongest winds not surprisingly were at Malin Head in County Donegal where speeds of up to 77mph were noted.
Belfast City Council and Derry City and Strabane Council closed its public parks in the morning as a precautionary measure.
The Foyle Bridge in Londonderry was also closed to high sided vehicles for a time but by 9am it was declared safe for all traffic to pass.
The storm passed over Northern Ireland and headed towards Scotland where again the havoc did not manifest itself to the degree predicted by the weather forecasters.