04/02/2011

Windy Weather Batters North

While the North hasn't seen any such tragedy as yesterday's Dublin fatality, heavy rain and gusts of up to 60mph have been battering Northern Ireland overnight and into today.

The Met Office said there was no 'weather warning' in place but that NI should expect a wet and windy couple of days, with better to come on Sunday.

The news came as a pedestrian in Dublin died after being hit by a tree felled by yesterday's high winds.

The woman died after she was struck while walking on Waterloo Road.

The accident happened shortly after 5pm and she was taken to St Vincent's Hospital but was she pronounced dead on arrival.

The 45-year-old victim was walking to her home in Ballsbridge when a large section of the tree snapped off in gusts that were reported as being of over 100km per hour outside the International School of Dublin.

According to reports this morning, the woman actually heard the tree snap and fled to the opposite side of the street, but it collapsed with force on to the retreating woman, pinning her unconscious underneath.

The Dublin Fire Brigade were called and managed to lift the tree off the woman, before paramedics arrived and attempted to resuscitate the woman. However, she died shortly after arriving at St Vincent's Hospital.

On Friday, in NI, the winds will be fairly strong, at least up to 55mph and heavy rain today, which will continue into Saturday. The wind should, however, decrease by Saturday and Sunday should be the best day of the weekend.

February so far has seen Atlantic weather systems slowly make progress from the west, resulting in southerly winds across the British Isles.

Some areas of NI may be susceptible to flash flooding however and the Executive website, NI Direct has released its flooding helpline number for those who may be affected.

The flooding incident line number is 0300 2000 100.

Anyone travelling across the border should check on onward travel arrangements as P&O Ferries while not predicting any disruption said customers should check the company's website regularly for updates.

None of the North's airports had flight disruptions early last night and into today.

(BMcC/GK)

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