District escapes worst impact of Storm Amy

8 October 2025

LOCAL areas escaped the worst effects of Storm Amy which battered the province at the weekend.

The storm, which saw the Met Office issue a yellow weather warning for strong winds from 2pm on Friday to midnight on Saturday, caused some incidents involving fallen trees and residents to be left without power for a number of days.

At its peak, the storm caused a loss of supply to approximately 65,000 customers across Northern Ireland.

Jimmy O’Reilly, 85, from Drumaness, was without power over the weekend.

He told the BBC: “We have been shivering with cold and layering up with our clothes.

“It’s such an inconvenience and it worries you that this would keep happening every time there’s a storm.

“Family and friends brought us hot food and rallied around.”

He praised the “amazing” NIE workers who are helping rural areas and who installed a generator for him.

The Church Road in Ballynahinch was blocked by a fallen tree for a time on Friday, as was the Old Park Road beside Tievenadarragh Wood near Loughinisland.

The storm also caused some disruption to Newry, Mourne and Down Council services over the weekend.

Household recycling centres closed from 1pm on Friday and remained closed on Saturday.

Castlewellan Forest Park, Delamont Country Park, council play parks and open spaces were closed to cars and pedestrians on Friday and Saturday due to risks around falling branches and debris.

Newcastle harbour gates were closed on Friday and Saturday with no access for pedestrians or vehicles.

The council opened a community assistance centre in Down Leisure Centre on Saturday afternoon to support residents affected by the adverse weather and who were without power.

A member of NIE Networks staff was on hand to offer support and answer any queries.

NIE said it hoped to restore power to the vast majority of properties by Sunday morning, but had advised it could take up to Monday evening for power to be restored in some areas.

South Down MLA Colin McGrath contacted NIE Networks to demand answers over repeated power cuts in the Lecale area, which left residents without electricity for days.

Mr McGrath said residents experienced power failures every time there were strong winds.

“That’s simply not acceptable in 2025. This is a recurring issue that people right across Lecale have experienced for years, and it needs to be fixed once and for all.

“Residents understand that bad weather can cause disruption, but the regularity and duration of these outages suggest a deeper problem with the network. People deserve a reliable electricity supply and clear information when power is lost.

“I’ll be following this up directly with NIE until this situation is properly resolved,” he added.

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