Arctic gusts blasted the Province and brought freak snowfall on one of the iciest autumn days since records began.

Country residents woke to scenes from a white Christmas – and sent children on their Halloween break to build snowmen.

Freezing commuters did not get to chill out but were lashed with heavy sleet, braving treacherous driving conditions.

And more sleet and snow was last night forecast for Northern Ireland, with overnight temperatures going as low as -3 celsius.

Today is predicted to be cold again, with rain turning to sleet and snow in central and eastern areas.

Last night, Colin Brown from the Roads Service said they would have 120 gritters out to cover 7,000km of road in three hours.

"Without a shadow of a doubt the winter is upon us," he said.

He said there have been instances of gritting in the run-up to Halloween in the past – but this was the first instance he was aware of that involved the use of snow ploughs.

John Hammond from the Met Office said a big freeze in October was extremely rare.

He added: "It is unusual for such low temperatures at this time of year, and the whole of Northern Ireland got a taste of winter.

"A strong northerly wind brought an Arctic chill straight into Northern Ireland."

He said it had been the coldest October day on record in the Belfast area since 1934, when temperatures reached a high of 3.9 degrees.

Yesterday's afternoon peak was 4.5 degrees – following hours at 0 degrees.

The Glenshane Pass was blocked with snow early yesterday afternoon and a crash in Feeney was blamed on harsh conditions.

Londonderry man Paul Leonard who was stranded on the Pass said: "The conditions are very, very slippery. There's packed ice under fallen snow and there's lots of HGV lorries slipping and sliding."

Everywhere in Northern Ireland saw at least a few flakes of the white stuff, with more scenic snowfall in mountainous areas.

The thickest snowfall was in Tyrone and Antrim where three centimetres fell.

Low-lying areas got just half a centimetre, with heavy downpours heaping misery on Belfast.

In typical Ulster fashion, the weather was topsy-turvy, with sunspells breaking the slate clouds.

The wintry snap started on Monday when up to an inch of snow fell in Portadown, before overnight temperatures plunged to 0.6 degrees.

Brief blizzards also hit areas in Coleraine, Ballymena, Larne and Magherafelt.

Paul Michaelwaite from Netweather.tv said: "This two-day cold spell is a really rare event.