Thunder, lightning and torrential rain flood entire NI town centre, Asda supermarket, local businesses and parts of Belfast

The rain caused many parts of the centre of Ballyclare to flood with several local businesses forced to close.

The thunder, at times, lightning, and heavy rain followed on from a yellow status weather warning issued by the Met Office for the East of Northern Ireland.

The owner of a florists in Ballyclare said he was "heartbroken" as it was third time this year her business had flooded.

"Unfortunately our beautiful shop has been flooded once again.

"We will be closed tomorrow for a major clean up and assess the damages caused.

"This has come at a time that businesses needed to thrive and not close.

"This is the third time in two years and I’m just heartbroken," said the local businessman.

The yellow status weather warning issued by the Met Office earlier today was for a thunderstorm.

The weather alert was valid from 2pm to 5pm on Tuesday.

The thunderstorm and torrential rain came only a matter of days after Northern Ireland basked for a whole week in temperatures measuring 30°C and higher.