Northern Ireland has escaped the worst of Storm Pia’s high winds, with Great Britain taking the brunt of the Danish-named Storm Pia on Thursday.A yellow weather warning for wind had been issued for Northern Ireland from noon until midnight on Thursday, but the end time was revised to 9pm and again to 3pm as winds eased.
The storm was named by Danish authorities early in the week, but did not meet the threshold for a named storm in the UK.Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) reported 6,000 customers had been affected by high winds during the storm.
"Storm Pia caused a low level of damage on the electricity network resulting in approximately 6,000 customers losing power. The vast majority of these were reconnected by 10am,” said a spokesperson.“As with all other years we will have staff on standby over the festive period should Northern Ireland experience any further storms or issues which would affect the network.”
Fallen trees and debris did cause some traffic disruption on Thursday morning, with PSNI officers assisting with traffic control while local roads were cleared of any obstructions.A spokesperson for Energy Networks Association (ENA), which represents Britain's electricity network operators, said around 17,900 customers had been left without power at 2pm on Thursday.
"Engineers are working to reconnect customers as quickly as possible but strong and disruptive winds persist in many places, which is hampering some efforts."
According to the ENA, the main areas affected were across Scotland, North East England, Yorkshire, North West England and the Midlands.
Wet, windy and unsettled weather looks likely to continue for Northern Ireland over the weekend and into Christmas.
Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Dave Hayter said: "It'll be a particularly wet weekend in the north and west, with breezy conditions for many.
"While those further south will generally be drier, some sporadic showers could spread into the south west at times, as well as some more persistent rain for Wales on Sunday.
"Christmas Day will likely see a continuation of unsettled, mainly showery, weather in the north west, including Northern Ireland.
"While the day may start damp in southern and central areas, that rain should clear into the English Channel through the evening."
Oli Claydon, a Met Office spokesman, said there will not be "picture postcard snowy scenes" on Christmas Day, but a technical white Christmas – defined as a single snowflake falling on Christmas Day – may still be possible over higher ground.
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