Winter storm leaves a trail of destruction (1962)

In Coalisland, a young boy was killed and seven injured when a wall was blown down as they waited for the arrival of Santa Claus in a Christmas parade.

Cross channel shipping was delayed by up to 12 hours with the Liverpool steamer docking at 7.20pm on Sunday, December 16, after a rough crossing which left many of the passengers seasick.

One young girl, Miss Lesley Harvey, of Cavehill Road, Belfast, who had just finished school in England, said she had “rather enjoyed it”. Although passengers were informed that the boat would not be sailing she had missed the announcement by going to her cabin early and was surprised when she woke up in the morning and find that the boat was still in Liverpool.

Another passenger, Miss Mary Cronin, who was making the last stage of a journey back home to Ballymurphy, Belfast, after 10 months in New York, described the crossing as an ordeal.

Engineers worked throughout Saturday night and Sunday to restore electricity failures which ranged from Portrush to Donaghadee and from Newcastle to Lisnaskea and Derrylin.

In Portstewart, where the lights were out from 5.30pm on Saturday, December 15, until shortly before 8pm on the Sunday, church services were held by candlelight and lamplight. Hotels also had to use candles “and many Sunday dinners were ruined”.

Meanwhile, two brothers, Paul Andrews, aged 25, of Crossgar, and Bertie Andrews, aged 20, of Killyleagh, had spent several uncomfortable hours on the Saturday on Swan Rock, half a mile from the shore of Strangford Lough, where they had gone duck shooting early in the morning.

When their motorbikes were noticed at the loughside at 4.30pm, the alarm was raised and police conducted an extensive search of the area.

It was not until near midnight, when the storm had abated a little, that the brothers returned to the shore. They were none the worse for their experience and were surprised to hear that they had been the subject of a search.

A 50 foot breach has also been torn in the pier wall at Ballycastle, the stormy sea had poured on to the roadway, cutting traffic off from the pier, and leaving part of the wall was strewn across the road.