Storm Eowyn: Northern Ireland picking up the pieces after extreme winds ravage Province - and number hit by powercuts has increased

An update was issued by NI Electricity at 3pm today, saying the number of customers without power has risen from 240,000 shortly before midday to 283,000 now.

Roads are blocked across the Province, with the famous tree-lined street of Cyprus Avenue in east Belfast among those to have seen a tree collapse.

In Newtownabbey, the Chimney Corner Hotel has lost part of its roof.

Meanwhile there has been large-scale cancelling of scheduled medical appointments in the South Eastern, Western, Belfast, and Northern health trust areas.

The Southern Trust likewise says “all outpatient appointments are cancelled”, adding that “all elective surgery, including red flag and urgent, is cancelled”.

The effects of Storm Eowyn could still be being felt on Saturday, Translink has warned.

It has just issued an update to say there will be no trains at all for the rest of the day, and that there may be "potential impact to some early Saturday morning services also".

Translink had previously indicated that, if safe, rail and bus services would begin operating again after the red weather warning is lifted at 2pm today.

As well as announcing the trains are all cancelled, it has now warned that whilst bus services will still run, these will "continue to be affected" through the day.

Ian Campbell, Translink’s director of service operations, said: “As we monitor the impact of the storm, early indications show there will be significant work needed to assess the damage, undertake repairs and remove debris from the railway before we can resume passenger services safely.

“We have already identified there are several railway lines blocked with fallen trees and debris that will need removed.

“The road network is also impacted with debris and there is also damage to some passenger facilities in certain areas.

“Our teams are on standby and as soon as it is safe to do so, we will take steps to carry out the vital safety checks to start the recovery process."

At Belfast City Airport, all Aer Lingus flights are cancelled for the rest of the day.

The others are a mix of cancelled, delayed, and set-to-go-ahead.

Meanwhile Belfast International Airport says: "Although all flights have been cancelled for the duration of the red weather warning, we expect some flights to begin operating later this afternoon."

All sailings on the Belfast-Cairnryan StenaLine route have been cancelled until 7.30pm, in both directions – but these 7.30pm sailings are listed as “in doubt” too.

The next definite sailing is not until 11.30pm.

And on the Larne-Cairnryan route, P&O says the 4pm and 8pm sailings are cancelled, but “we hope to resume services with the 23:59 sailings, however this is dependant on the weather improving”.

More to follow.