Northern Ireland weather: Was last night the deepest freeze of our winter? Met Office looks back after Yellow Warning for ice

Yesterday the forecaster told the News Letter that Thursday night into Friday was indeed likely to be the coldest night of the winter for the Province – so far – and the rest of the UK.

A Yellow Warning for ice was in place until 10am this morning for Counties Antrim, Down, Londonderry and Tyrone.

The Department for Infrastructure warned that it salted the main road network overnight but urged road users to exercise caution today - especially on untreated roads.

This morning Met Office spokesman Oliver Claydon told the News Letter that the lowest temperature last night was a chilling -6.8C at Altnahinch Filters in Antrim at 9:30pm.

However, it was not the coldest night of the winter so far for NI, which has been confirmed as Wednesday night with -7.3C at Castlederg.

(The lowest recorded overnight temperature for Northern Ireland is -18.7C at Castlederg in December 2010.)

Regardless, today could potentially see NI waving farewell to this winter's frost and snow, with the weather gradually warming throughout the weekend.

This evening is set to be dry and cold with some frost, with the early hours of Saturday dry and cloudy and the possibility of a little rain in the far southwest. The lowest temperature is expected to be -1C.

Saturday is set to be cloudy and mainly dry with a little light rain possible across the southwest, becoming somewhat less cold. The maximum temperature will be 6C.

Sunday is set to be fairly cloudy, with Monday mild with some rain for a time and Tuesday dry and still quite mild.

Six schools are closed across Northern Ireland today – mainly due to adverse weather but two due to no heating. They are based in Counties Londonderry, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Antrim.

Derry City and Strabane District Council has advised this morning that the ongoing icy weather conditions continue to have some impact on a range of services today.

The City of Derry Airport has also advised passengers to allow extra time for their journey to and from the airport and to check flight arrival and departure times via the live website link here.

Meanwhile, across the rest of the UK, the picture is much bleaker.

Last night saw the wider UK record its coldest night of this winter so far with even more freezing temperatures expected in the coming days.

Overnight temperatures fell as low as minus 14C in Altnaharra, northern Scotland, according to the Met Office.

Weather warnings for ice were in place across the majority of Wales as well as large parts of the east of England, until 10am today.

The Met Office has said Friday will see “the start of a change to our weather” with milder temperatures “attempting to move in from the south west through the morning”.

But this is expected to only make “limited progress” and patchy rain, sleet and snow is expected across parts of South west Britain.

The forecaster added: “Amounts of snow are uncertain – probably small and confined to high ground, but there is a risk of icy surfaces in places. Much of the rest of the UK will have another dry and bright day but remaining very cold, with a few freezing fog patches lasting all day.”

Friday night is predicted to bring the lowest temperatures of the cold snap in parts of Scotland and northern England, with temperatures between minus 15C and minus 20C possible.

Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick said: “That’s probably the lowest limits that we’re … expecting, we probably don’t really expect many places to get close to minus 20C, but we could see one or two places that could just touch that mark overnight Friday into Saturday.

“Just because it’s, again, still conditions, it’s high pressure, not a lot of wind and under clear skies as well.

“Especially where there’s still snow on the ground across Scotland and northern England, that’s sort of a perfect scenario to see those temperatures just plummet from Friday night into Saturday morning as well.”

The weather will slowly warm as Monday nears.