Northern Ireland

Storm Jocelyn causes more disruption

Roads closed as high winds sweep in

Clean up on the Oldstone Road in Antrim after a fallen tree due to Storm Jocelyn.
The main road to Belfast International Airport remains closed and diversions are in place.
PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN
Clean up on the Oldstone Road in Antrim after a fallen tree due to Storm Jocelyn. The main road to Belfast International Airport was closed and diversions were in place. PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN (Colm Lenaghan)

Storm Jocelyn - the second major weather system to hit Ireland and Britain in a week - has caused major disruption across the north.

Road chiefs said that the storm battered the roads network as it swept through overnight on Tuesday.

Department for Infrastructure official Colin Sykes confirmed that an additional 200 incidents had been reported but confirmed the impact was not widespread as Storm Isha, which resulted significant damage and power cuts.

Storm Jocelyn damage

High winds, which led to fallen trees, resulted in several road closures on Tuesday evening, while some train journeys and flights were also affected.

At one point on Tuesday the main road to Belfast International Airport was closed as a result of the storm but later reopened.

The high winds of last weekend also closed a section of the Somerton Road in Belfast between the Lansdowne Road and Fortwilliam Park junctions, also due to a fallen tree. It remained closed yesterday

Co Derry has been similarly impacted, with Great James Street between Strand Road and Little James Street in Derry closed due to roof tiles falling from a building.

Belfast International and Belfast City Airport also issued warnings that the bad weather could lead to flight disruptions.



Since Sunday power has been restored to around 52,000 customers, while around 1,400 have yet to be reconnected.

NIE Networks said that it had 600 engineers working to repair damaged lines and were expected to be assisted by the use of a helicopter and extra manpower from Britain.

On Wednesday around 19,000 houses and businesses remained without power south of the border while in Britain Storm Jocelyn caused travel disruption and left thousands without electricity.

Why is it called Storm Jocelyn?

Jocelyn was named by Met Éireann after Prof Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a Northern Ireland astrophysicist who discovered the first pulsating radio stars, or pulsars, in 1967.

Clean up on the Oldstone Road in Antrim after a fallen tree due to Storm Jocelyn.
The main road to Belfast International Airport remains closed and diversions are in place.
PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN
Clean up on the Oldstone Road in Antrim. PICTURE: COLM LENAGHAN (Colm Lenaghan)

Rail services were also suspended in some areas and later reopened when the worst of the storm had passed.

Met Office

The Met Office said wind gusts from Jocelyn reached 97mph in Capel Curig in Snowdonia, 79mph in Aberdaron, Wales, 77mph at Shap, Cumbria, and 74mph at the South Uist Range in the Western Isles.

Elsewhere, authorities said a search for a woman reported to be in the sea at Porthcawl, south Wales, which started around 6pm on Tuesday, was continuing.

Parts of York have been affected by flooding and the Environment Agency said river flooding was probable in parts of the north of England on Wednesday.

In total there were 25 flood warnings in force in Scotland and 19 in England at on Wednesday.