Locals have described a “river running down the roads” in Co Down following severe rain on Sunday.
Much of Northern Ireland was under a yellow rain warning from midnight to 3pm on Sunday.
But community spirit in the Newcastle area “saved loads of houses from being flooded” as heavy rain descended on the Mourne Mountains, a Co Down councillor has said.
Willie Clarke said neighbours on Tullybrannigan Road and nearby streets were out from the early hours armed with shovels and sandbags, working to keep the floodwater away from people’s homes, and described their efforts as “really amazing”.
RM Block
The Sinn Féin councillor said he was aware of two flooded homes.
The Tullybrannigan road was closed on Sunday, and the PSNI urged caution in the area.
Mr Clarke said that when the water swept down from the mountains it brought with it debris which blocked drains, causing “more havoc”, but said the low tide helped the rainwater disperse.
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”.
Meanwhile, the downpours that dominated for much of the rest of the country over the weekend slowly cleared from the west on Sunday.
Sunday night will bring a mix of clear spells and showers, merging to longer spells of rain at times, especially over the southern half of the country
Monday will start “rather cloudy” with scattered showers “merging to longer spells of rain at times, especially near the east coast”.
There will be some heavy bursts and isolated thunderstorms are possible but they will ease towards the evening with temperatures struggling to get past 16 degrees.
Monday night will also be pretty damp across much of the country with a few mist and fog patches mainly across the midlands, north and east.
Tuesday will start grey and drizzly but brightening up from the west as the day goes on with sunny spells and a few showers.
It will be largely dry with long clear spells on Tuesday night, apart from isolated coastal showers in the west and north while it will be mainly dry and bright at first on Wednesday with hazy sunshine to begin with just a few showers, mainly in the west and north.
Cloud will increase from the south through the day with outbreaks of rain developing, turning heavy in parts of the south later.
There is “some uncertainty in the detail at present for Wednesday night, but current indications suggest wet and potentially windy conditions, with rain spreading north-eastward over the country,” according to Met Éireann.
