Storm Eowyn smashes iconic trees on Cyprus Avenue and Adelaide Park: Two of Belfast's most picturesque streets hit by hurricane-force winds

Hurricane-force winds uprooted large trees on Cyprus Avenue, the place made globally famous by Van Morrison in his classic song hymning his East Belfast upbringing – and site of an internationally renowned outdoor show celebrating Van the Man’s 70th birthday in 2015.

The storm also did serious damage to greenery on Adelaide Park in the south of the city, smashing down trees and scattering them across the street.

Adelaide Park is a conservation area, a protection applied because it played an important part in the city’s heritage.

The two streets are known as some of the best views in Belfast, with each of the fallen trees likely to have at least a century of growth behind it.

Home to some of the wealthiest homes in the city, leafy Cyprus Avenue has become a mecca for Van Morrison fans after his famous 1968 song named after the street.

A meditation on his upbringing in the city, the track features on arguably his most famous album, Astral Weeks.

For years a live highlight, he’d regularly finish his concerts with extended takes on a song that is still dear to the hearts of his worldwide fanbase.

Van Morrison grew up off Beersbridge Road, a short distance away from Cyprus Avenue.

According to childhood friend Roy Kane, Cyprus Avenue "was the street that we would all aspire to — the other side of the tracks; the Beersbridge Road had the railway line cut across it, and our side of it was one side of the tracks and Cyprus Avenue was the other”.

The street hosted a huge outdoor concert in 2015, with people travelling from all over the globe to see Van Morrison perform under a canopy of Cyprus Avenue’s iconic trees for his 70th birthday.

Adelaide Park in the Malone area of South Belfast was identified as a conservation zone back in the 1990s.

Described as having one of the largest concentrations of individually designed Edwardian and Victorian villas in the province, the prestigious area was built by wealthy industrialists as Belfast boomed in the 19th century.

It’s known as having some of the most distinguished architecture in the city, framed by trees that played a vital part in its vistas.

When it became a protected zone, officials said the “combination of notable domestic Victorian architecture, mature landscaped gardens and tree-lined avenues produces a townscape character which is worthy of conservation”.

Added officials: “Malone and Adelaide represent the best of what remains of the leafy middle class suburbs which developed around the turn of the century in South Belfast.”

Several buildings on the street are individually listed for protection, and these days houses in the area can go for sums of close to £2m.

The damage came after Storm Eowyn landed with winds of up to 90mph on Friday morning.

A red alert, meaning a danger to life, was in place until 2pm, and an amber warning for wind was in place until 9pm.