Heavy downpours hit Northern Ireland on Sunday causing flash …
Flash floods in east Belfast on the Short Strand, beside apartments on the right that overlook the River Lagan, on Sunday afternoon August 6 2023, as thunder storms swept across Northern Ireland. Photo David McCormick/Pacemaker Press
​While the bursts of rain were short in many areas, they were enough to cause flooding in some parts.
The first weekend in August was as damp as most of July has been, when the province had its wettest July since records began, getting slightly more rainfall than the previous worst year, 1937.
On Saturday morning Storm Antoni came in from the Atlantic, just as the satellite images had shown it would do, sweeping across Ulster. But the downfalls were not as prolonged as expected and the rain clouds had largely moved past the province by late morning.
Heavy rain on the Newtownards Road at the junction of North Road in east Belfast at 2.20pm on Sunday August 6 2023
Yesterday there were heavy showers, such as shown in the picture on this page shows, taken just after 2pm on the Newtownards Road looking towards the junction with North Road.
Other photographs showed flooded water on the Short Strand running alongsside apartments that overlook the River Lagan.
There were also reports of flooded stretches of road outside Belfast, such as the Gransha Road, Comber in Co Down.
Meanwhile, in Great Britain Storm Antoni saw 78mph winds hit parts of the mainland, blowing down trees and blocking 100 miles of railway between Exeter and Penzance.
Severe road and rail disruption was reported in the South West of England on Saturday, and the Met Office[1] said that about half a month’s worth of rain fell on parts.
Better weather is expected in Northern Ireland[2] this week, including sunny spells today, with perhaps a few light showers breaking out.
It will become cloudy later in the day and remain so for much of Tuesday.
Better weather is expected towards the end of the week with a mixture of sunshine and rain from Wednesday on. With maximum temperatures over 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit) it will be much closer to normal August summer weather.
But southern England is expected to be hotter still, with the Met Office forecasting that London will get maximums in the mid 20s C (77F) each day from Wednesday.
References
- ^ Met Office (www.newsletter.co.uk)
- ^ Northern Ireland (www.newsletter.co.uk)