2023 was one of the wettest years on record for Northern Ireland says the Met Office

For both the Province and for England, 2023 was “one of the 10 wettest years on record” since 1836.

The agency added that “some areas have seen more than a quarter more rainfall than normal”, though it said that full statistics will not be available until January 2.

As for the days ahead, the Met Office said Northern Ireland can expect rain for a time on Saturday morning, followed by drier but windy conditions in the afternoon.

As for Sunday (New Year’s Eve) and Monday, all it was predicting at time of writing last night was that both would be “unsettled with showers”.

Whilst parts of Northern Ireland had experienced blustery conditions in the last few days, residents may spare a thought for the citizens of Manchester, which was reportedly hit with a tornado.

The Met Office said that a “supercell thunderstorm” crossed the Greater Manchester area on Wednesday night and that it had a “strong rotating updraft”, which suggests “a tornado at the surface was likely”.

Around 100 properties were damaged by what police called a “localised tornado” in Stalybridge, Tameside, and residents in the badly hit village of Carrbrook told of the states of “absolute disaster” houses were in.

Speaking on Thursday evening, the executive leader of Tameside Council, Ged Cooney, said the major incident at Stalybridge had been stood down.