Harland and Wolff building roof damaged by Storm Eleanor

By Michael McHugh and David Young, Press Association

A sizeable chunk of a factory roof at one of Northern Ireland's major businesses has been ripped off by Storm Eleanor.

The mammoth mobile building at Harland and Wolff (H&W) Heavy Industries in east Belfast was not in use at the time.

It was intended for painting projects, a spokesman for the company said.

H&W was once one of the world's leading shipbuilders, it built the Titanic, and currently focuses on offshore energy and steel fabrication.

The spokesman said the damage affected the outer skin of the roof.

Around 23,000 electricity customers in Northern Ireland lost power overnight as the Atlantic storm swept in from the west.

The vast majority were reconnected by Wednesday afternoon.

Les Drew, head of business improvement at Northern Ireland Electricity, said the storm caused significant damage to trees which in turn affected overhead power lines in the southern part of Northern Ireland.

Wind gusted to 70 or 80mph and Mr Drew said his staff had to work in atrocious and dangerous conditions to repair poles and lines.

"They are having great difficulty getting access to premises but while it is light and it is still safe they will continue to work to get everybody restored as quickly as possible."

He said it was a significant storm.

"We have had higher numbers off in the past but it is very much down to the number of incidents or pieces of damage, there is approximately 400 plus different faults and incidents so it is difficult for the guys to get across all of those."

Fallen trees forced road closures in large parts of counties Armagh and Fermanagh.