People living in some streets at the foot of the Mourne Mountains in Co Down battled to prevent their homes being flooded after heavy overnight rain.
The UK's Met Office had issued a status yellow heavy rain alert for most of Northern Ireland, and Down appears to have been the worst hit.
Around 100 millimetres of rain is believed to have fallen on the Mournes.
Heavy overnight rain turned some streets in Newcastle in Co Down into temporary rivers today as torrents of water came down from the Mourne Mountains with local residents + statutory agencies battling to save homes from flooding @rtenews pic.twitter.com/vyU6oFj7ID
— Vincent Kearney (@vincekearney) October 19, 2025
People living in Sunningdale Drive used stones washed down from mountain paths and sandbags to build barriers to prevent some homes from being flooded.
"I’ve lived here for 18 years and have never seen anything like this," said Avril Tinson, whose bungalow at the bottom of the street was one of several homes that narrowly avoided being flooded.
"The water came rushing down the street and my house was the natural place for it to go.
"But neighbours helped build a barrier using some of the stones and later some sandbags arrived and that stopped the water getting into the house down the driveway," she said.
"I’m still a bit concerned because there’s still so much water in the mountains. Hopefully we’re going to be alright, but I couldn’t have done it without the neighbours."
Staff from Stormont’s department for infrastructure deployed hundreds of sandbags to contain the water and direct the flow away from homes.
Roads service staff used diggers and lorries to clear large piles of stones and gravel that were washed down while local people helped clear blocked drains.
"It’s all about trying to save people’s homes until the water level drops," said councillor Willie Clarke of Sinn Féin as he helped move sandbags.
"The statutory agencies have done a very good job to protect homes, but we do need to look at why drains were blocked as that made the situation worse."
With the ground now saturated, local residents said they fear that further rain could result in more serious flooding.
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A spokesperson for the Department for Infrastructure said the flooding was caused by "surface water run-off from the Mourne Mountains" after heavy overnight rain, adding that there were no reports of rivers causing flooding.
They said more than 900 sandbags were used and their teams cleared the roads of debris, which included large stones.
They said their staff had been "on standby all weekend following the Met Office weather warning issued".
Additional reporting by PA
