Dyed blue sheep huddle to stay warm in the hills of Co Antrim during the big freeze of 2010.Dyed blue sheep huddle to stay warm in the hills of Co Antrim during the big freeze of 2010.
Dyed blue sheep huddle to stay warm in the hills of Co Antrim during the big freeze of 2010.

When was the last white Christmas in NI? Heavy snow of 2010 in pictures - and how cold was it on Xmas day

The last time there was widespread snow across Northern Ireland for Christmas was 2010, here's our favourite pictures from the 'big freeze.'

2010 was the coldest winter in a century with average temperatures of -0.6C.

It will be remembered by many as the 'big freeze' with the month of December seeing widespread snow, ice and bone chillingly cold temperatures.

In the week December 17 to 26 alone, temperatures did not go above 0C and in Edenfel in County Tyrone on December 23, the thermostat didn't go above a freezing -11.3C.

But that's nothing compared to Castlederg which was the coldest place in Northern Ireland with the temperature going all the way down to -18.7C.

How cold was it on Christmas Day in 2010?

Northern Ireland had the coldest Christmas Day since 1830, with average temperatures of −5.9 °C.

However, the wintery conditions set the scene for some, festive views across Northern Ireland.

Here's some of our favourite images to sum up the 'big freeze' of 2010.

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