An emergency advice centre has been set up on the Rathcoole housing estate on the outskirts of north Belfast to deal with problems caused by major overnight flooding.

Social Development Minister Nigel Dodds said that although the volume of Friday night's rainfall was unusual, the scale of the flooding raised questions for the water and roads services.

Householders spent Saturday clearing up after heavy rainfall caused flooding in counties Antrim and Down.

Rathcoole was the worst affected area with 70 homes flooded.

Nigel Dodds: Opened an emergency centre to deal with flooded homes

The Fire Service responded to more than 300 calls in Glengormley, Carrickfergus and Whitehead.

Jim Murray of the Housing Executive said their office in the area had been opened and extra staff drafted in to help deal with the problem.

De-humidifiers were also been brought in to help dry out homes.

"We have had people out there trying to deal with the problem but it was a very difficult situation," he said.

"It was a freakish situation with the amount of water that built up very quickly, but we tried to respond as quickly as possible and co-ordinate our services with the other agencies."

Firefighters also dealt with a number of lightning strikes.

Assistant area commander Gordon Latimer said the volume of calls stretched their resources.

"Our colleagues in the police and the Department of Regional Development assisted and we attended as many as we could in as short a period of time as we could," he said.

Collapsed roof

Some houses in the Rathcoole area were evacuated on Friday evening as the waters rose rapidly and a river burst its banks.

Householders fought flood water four or five feet deep in places.

Bill Gowdy: "No sewage system could have coped with that amount of rain"

This is the first time the executive has had to deal with flooding problems in the area, but people living in the nearby Whitewell Road say it has been a recurring problem over the past 30 years.

Residents of Fairyknowe Gardens claimed the sewerage system was not up to the job.

However, Bill Gowdy from the Water Service said Friday night's heavy rain was exceptional.

"The rainfall was very significant and really there are no sewage systems in the world that could have coped with that amount of rain," he said.

The thunder storms also caused part of a roof at the Quality Inn hotel in Carrickfergus to collapse.

Cars heading out of Belfast on the M2 were unable to leave the motorway at Greencastle because of a landslide at Arthur Bridge.

There was also flooding in Warrenpoint which was blamed for an accident on the Newry to Warrenpoint Road.