30/12/2015 BBC Newsline

Half a month's rainfall fell overnight in County Down

as Storm Frank brought the worst weather here so far this winter.

At one stage more than 200 roads were blocked and around 20,000 homes

and businesses were without electricity.

High winds and high seas made it a dangerous night.

Hundreds of homes were affected as the storm raged.

Many roads were also flooded, including those on the main routes

It happened so quickly that some drivers were caught out,

and only realised when it was too late.

Ruth McKee was in a car that got stuck at 6am.

She eventually made it to the airport, but the car did not.

We were on it before we knew what it was.

It was impossible to see it in that dark.

High winds at the airport meant that more

than 1000 passengers were stranded in planes when they arrived

It was said to be too dangerous for them to walk

You actually thought that you were still in the air.

When he went to the toilet is, it was bouncing

This is usually a popular footpath for those walking

If you want some idea as to how much rain has

been in recent days, just look around at the nearby

Most of the province suffered about one inch of rain.

We had isolated spots that had two inches of rain,

and that is about half of the normal December total.

Across the border, Cork and Galway have also

The Army have been called in to try and limit the damage.

The good news is that the worst of the storm has now passed.

But everyone using the roads is advised to drive

There's a security alert in Dundonald on the outskirts

Within the last half hour a controlled explosion

was carried out in the Millreagh Development.

An army bomb disposal team has been examining a suspicious object

Two 17 year olds have been arrested by police investigating the murder

of Christopher Meeli in west Belfast.

The 20-year-old was beaten and kicked to death at Glasvey Close

The teenagers were arrested in the west of the city.

A man who escaped from police custody at Londonderry magistrates

court last Wednesday appeared again today at the same court.

22-year-old Dean Beattie, from Glenowen Park in the city,

is charged with escaping from lawful custody,

and intimidating a man with intent to pervert the course of justice.

He was remanded in custody to appear in court again in January.

Newly released state papers from 1988 show that the Soviet Union

asked the British government to investigate the cases

More than 600 previously confidential files have been made

available at the Public Record Office.

Here's our political correspondent Chris Page.

In the 1980s you would have expected British-

on the Berlin Wall rather than what was going

But 27 years ago, the Troubles and the Cold War collided.

At a meeting in Moscow, the Soviets claimed that there

were more than 400 political prisoners in Northern

They asked Britain to investigate eight inmates in the maze.

The Foreign Secretary was said to be astounded.

People recalled Geoffrey Howe's shock and astonishment.

It was different from usual human rights cases.

The details are revealed in some of the 620 state documents

The main thing was how to deal with the dreadful cycle

It was one of the bloodiest times in the conflict.

The letter was written to the Foreign Secretary.

He said that he would not advocate a British withdrawal

from Northern Ireland because he was afraid of civil war.

But eventually, the British are going to find

Sir Alan speculated about Peter Robinson becoming

the head of an Ulster government.

He was the first person to mention Peter Robinson in any context.

Another document considered the government reaction to the success

of Sinn Fein in the elections. The Northern Ireland Office policy

was to bolster the SDLP. These files paint a picture

of a bleak and violent time. Within a few years, the peace

process was underway. The documents provide a valuable

insight into the thinking It also provides a few untold

stories, such as Moscow And just time for the

Ice hockey results. This evening the Belfast Giants beat

the Dundee Stars 5-2 at the SSE They are now second

in the Elite league table. The weather latest now,

with Geoff Maskell: Hello, good evening. It is a chilly

night. After all the disruption of Storm Frank classmate, it is

certainly calmer. It will stay dry from most until the small hours. It

makes things difficult for the roads service because temperatures will

drop away close to freezing. The chance of a few icy patches on the

roads tomorrow morning so take extra care if you are out and about

earlier. Tomorrow will be a cold day. We will sea wintry showers. A

dry slot of weather around Breakfast time, behind that the rain works its

way in. Through the D the showers will fall asleep and is now on high

ground. Across the UK and Ireland, there is a marked difference in

temperatures. We will have highs of 56 degrees, ahead of the front, in

the south-east there are temperatures reached double figures.

Behind it is cooler era and secluded snowfall across the North and

Scotland. So showers continue to work their way in from the West

across Ireland. Temperatures drop away towards midnight, down to

freezing in many places so it will be a chilly New Year's Eve. New

Year's Day will feel like a January morning. Before Green Alliance

later. -- before the -- region arrives later. Skies will start to

cloud over Andy Moore move in from the south. Plenty of unsettled

weather heading in our direction towards the weekend. Low-pressure

pressure systems working their way in from the Atlantic. With these

comes colder where coming from the north and carrying less water. The

rain will continue to come down over the next few days. It should not

rain in the quantities we have seen over the next few days.

Our next BBC Newsline is at 6.25 in the morning during Breakfast

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