Weather warning on way as winter bites

The Met Office website says: “Frequent sleet and snow showers may lead to some difficult driving conditions and disruption to travel on Friday morning.”

The warning is in place from midnight to 10am on Friday, despite parts of Northern Ireland already witnessing flurries of snow and slippery roads.

Strong winds are also expected throughout the Province.

Yesterday a gust of wind hit a high of 28mph, and that is set to continue with gusts likely to hit 36mph before the weekend.

New year saw record-breaking mild conditions with parts of Co Down reaching 14.3C, the mildest New Year since 2014 when Co Armagh reached 13C.

But forecasters had warned that the mild temperature would be replaced by this more unsettled weather, with temperatures dipping below zero across the UK.

The Department for Infrastructure began salting the roads yesterday morning, after some of the main routes became at risk for icy conditions.

Trafficwatch NI tweeted: “Road users are again advised to exercise caution when travelling, particularly when driving on untreated roads.”

A yellow weather warning is the least severe warning, but is likely to have some impact on people’s daily life.

The Met Office have predicted that some roads and railways are likely to be affected which can cause longer journey times. There will be some icy patches on untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths, and perhaps brief power outages are possible with a risk of isolated lightning strikes.