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Snow alert in north as Ireland bears brunt of Storm Clodagh

 The sea rages along the sea front in Portrush as Storm Clodagh passes through. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
 The sea rages along the sea front in Portrush as Storm Clodagh passes through. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin  The sea rages along the sea front in Portrush as Storm Clodagh passes through. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin

A YELLOW warning for snow has been issued for Northern Ireland on Monday, with motorists urged to exercise caution.

The Met Office said the snow alert, affecting counties Antrim and Derry, comes into effect from 7am.

“Across northern parts of Northern Ireland and southern Scotland the rain is expected to turn to wet snow with two to five centimetres possible above about 150m, and some slushy accumulations possible at lower levels,” forecasters said.

Meanwhile a yellow warning for wind remains in place across all counties of Northern Ireland on Sunday with the south of Ireland worst affected by the Storm Clodagh.

Police have urged drivers to exercise caution on the roads.

Wind and rain have led to treacherous conditions on the roads over the weekend with reports of flooding. The A2 Dunluce Road between Portrush and Bushmills is closed to traffic.

Strong winds are expected to sweep across the region as Cloadgh moves northwards.

Thousands of properties have been left without electricity after Storm Clodagh battered parts of Ireland.

Some 6,500 homes were without power this morning with Cork, Meath and the midland areas among the worst affected.

At its peak, heavy rain and gusts of up to 80 kilometres an hour were recorded.

A spokeswoman for the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) said crews had been working from early morning with most homes and businesses expected to be reconnected later on Sunday.

She said: "As of about 11.30am there were 6,500 reports of outages but that has decreased to about 5,000.

"Our crews will be working throughout the day to restore power and with the winds easing we expect everybody back on by this evening."

Although there were some reports of fallen trees, widespread damage to power lines has not been an issue, ESB said. 

Flights were diverted, trains delayed and traffic held up on motorways as heavy rain and strong winds lashed the north west of England.

The roof of a parade of shops was blown off and onto cars below on Moorfield Avenue in Denton, Tameside this afternoon with residents living in flats above the shops given temporary shelter for the night.

A number of trees were also blown over and part of the Christmas market in Manchester city centre was closed for safety reasons as high winds swept the area.

A small number of flights were diverted at Manchester Airport but despite the damage and delays there have been no reports of any injuries. 

Met Eireann has issued a status orange wind warning.

After passing through Ireland, Clodagh – the third named storm of the extended winter season – will then travel onto Scotland and the North Sea towards southern Scandinavia, where it is expected to deepen further.