A fresh yellow warning for snow and ice has been issued for parts of Northern Ireland from Wednesday afternoon until Thursday morning.The warning is in place for counties Antrim, Londonderry, Fermanagh, and Tyrone from 16:00 GMT until 11:00 GMT.Some schools have been closed and police have advised drivers to reduce speed as the cold snap continues to make roads hazardous.Translink has warned passengers that bus services will be subject to delay and disruption due to the weather.
It follows the coldest night of this winter so far after temperatures fell to -7C in Katesbridge in County Down.Temperatures on Wednesday night are expected to be equally as low, especially in inland areas.
The Met Office said that “showers of rain and sleet near coasts, and snow inland, will continue to affect the north and west of Northern Ireland this evening, overnight and into Thursday morning.”As surfaces fall below freezing, this will lead to some icy stretches on untreated surfaces, while a few centimetres of fresh snow could affect some areas, mainly places above about 100 metres.”An earlier yellow warning for snow and ice came into force at 15:00 GMT on Tuesday and expires at midday on Wednesday.
Claudy businessman Peter Eakin said there appeared to be a lack of proper planning for the conditions.”Snow was forecast to come and we know that salting doesn’t take away snow but there was ice on the road before the snow came and if the salters had gone out and given a wee bit of preparation, I think it would have made conditions a lot easier.”There was no road service to be seen, the roads were blocked, there were vehicles stuck – people, in general, just think the rural area is just forgotten about.”The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said roads considered to be at risk had been salted overnight.”However road users are advised to exercise caution when travelling, particularly when driving on untreated roads,” the department added.