Tragically, a young mother of two died when a falling tree struck her car in County Down on Saturday.
Mairead Theresa Shields, 35, from Downpatrick was alone in the vehicle when a tree came down onto its roof.
Family friend John Doris described her death as “devastating.”
He said: “The community are very sad at the loss of such a lovely person. The family are well known in the community, it is very sad for her children who are left behind.”
Around 400 Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) engineers were forced to go out into the storm to repair cables and poles.
An NIE spokeswoman said: “Damage caused by flying debris and high winds, including trees falling on electricity lines, and damage to poles and other equipment, made conditions very difficult to work in.
“We dealt with approximately 500 faults over the weekend as the emergency crews worked through the night in difficult conditions to restore power as quickly as possible.”
Forecasters are predicting strong winds and rain for the coming week across the entire island of Ireland as more low pressure moves in from the Atlantic.
The rough weather is expected to be at its worst from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, with more high winds predicted for the end of the week.
Weather forecaster Rob Hutchinson, said: “This week will be very unsettled and the wind will make it feel quite cold.”