Storms knock out cash machines

Trees blown down by the wind

A power failure caused by overnight bad weather has caused the loss of the Bank of Ireland's ATM service in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.

A statement by the bank said a computer centre in Dublin was affected by the storms and they were working to restore the service as soon as possible.

Currently 900 homes in Northern Ireland are still without power as a result of the high winds.

There are also problems on some roads, with flooding and fallen trees.

Westerly areas of Northern Ireland have been worst affected, with a number of homes in Coleraine also without power.

Northern Ireland Electricity has opened incident centres and engineers are trying to restore customers' power.

In Londonderry, the Foyle Bridge is now open again to all traffic after being closed to high-sided vehicles.

The bad weather is set to continue throughout the day. Severe gales are forecast - up to force 11 - especially during the afternoon and around the north coast.

At the height of the storms early on Thursday morning, more than 2,000 homes were left without power.

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An NIE spokeswoman said engineers were working in very difficult conditions, but she hoped power would be restored "as soon as possible".

"We've already restored some customers - we'll be working hard to restore the rest throughout the day," she said.

"It is very hard for our engineers, they're battling against the elements at the moment.

"There are trees down over lines and in some cases the electricity lines themselves have been brought down."