TODAY is expected to be a brief respite from the rain, ahead of what is set to be a wet weekend.
Boxing Day started with icy roads which caused a number of collisions – particularly in the south Armagh and Banbridge areas – before heavy rain across the Province which left surface water on many roads.
More heavy rain was expected last night before a dry start today.
“Thursday should be a dry day with sunny spells,” said a spokesman for Meteogroup, the weather forecasting service for the Press Association.
“Rain will come in overnight from Thursday to Friday morning. It will be quite windy on Friday with gusts of 50 miles per hour in the higher parts of Northern Ireland.”
He said the rain would return at the weekend, with Sunday expected to be particularly wet: “Saturday is to be cooler and Sunday will be cold, with showers and sleet on higher ground.
Temperatures could rise to 14 degrees on Friday, but the winds will make it feel colder. The temperature will drop down to six to eight at the weekend.
However, there have been no weather warnings issued for Northern Ireland, unlike in England where there has been flooding.
Yesterday a landslide warning was issued by the Met Office for England and Wales as continued heavy downpours sparked fears of unstable cliff faces.
The Met Office said coastal areas in the south-west of England are in particular danger of collapsing cliff edges and rockfall, but stressed that all areas enduring heavy rain are at risk.
A spokesman for the Met Office said: “We have had such heavy and persistent rainfall over the last few days and weeks that there is a danger of landslides and rockfall along the coast, even on coastal paths.
“We are advising Boxing Day walkers in the south-west of England to take particular care in these dangerous conditions, especially those not familiar with the area.”
Many coastal paths have been closed over the last few weeks along the south-west of England and train services have been disrupted by small coastal landslides.
Weather experts have said that up to 15mm of rain has fallen across the south-west of England and south Wales, with up to 20mm expected again yesterday.
The soggy Christmas comes towards the end of what is expected to be one of the wettest years in Britain since records began.
The UK’s average rainfall in 2012, excluding December, is 1,202mm – placing it 13th in the list of wettest years since records began in 1910.
The year 2000 remains the UK’s wettest year, with an average rainfall of 1,337.3mm.
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