Coldest night of season recorded in Northern Ireland as province is braced for wind and rain
Large parts of Northern Ireland experienced snow and icy conditions overnight on Wednesday – with the temperatures set to get even colder.
The coldest recording was made at Altnahinch Filters – minus 2.8C – as the province woke up to a chilly morning, bringing icy patches and snow.
Co Antrim seemed to get the brunt of the cold weather as minus 1.4C was also recorded in both Killylane and Portglenone yesterday.
Meanwhile, the warmest daytime temperature across the whole of Northern Ireland yesterday was 7C in Londonderry.
Snow also made an appearance yesterday at Lough Fea in Co Tyrone and at Glenanne in Co Armagh as a glimpse of winter arrived.
The Met Office and the PSNI had advised members of the public to be vigilant on the roads and when walking on foot due to the difficult conditions.
Whilst the minus 2.8C has been the coldest of the season to date in Northern Ireland, the Met Office has predicted that it will get even colder in places overnight into today before the weather turns into wind and rain this weekend.
“Looking at the data, we expect that temperatures could drop to minus four, or even five, overnight on Thursday and into Friday morning, so there will definitely be icy conditions,” explained Met Office meteorologist Kathryn Chalk.
“However, a band of rain will then come in the afternoon and through the night into Saturday.
“The weekend won’t have as low temperatures as Wednesday, Thursday or Friday but the weather will be unsettled with wind and rain.”
Meanwhile, about 100 schools were closed in northern Scotland yesterday, while in Wales, 36 were closed in Pembrokeshire, 14 in Carmarthenshire and seven in Ceredigion.
In North Yorkshire, 33 schools were closed, while eight were also listed as fully closed in East Yorkshire.
Similarly to Northern Ireland, England and Wales also fell to their coldest of the season so far, with minus 6.6C recorded at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire and minus 6.4C in Sennybridge in Powys.
Scotland’s lowest temperature recorded overnight on Wednesday was minus 6.4C in Dundreggan, Inverness.
The Met Office said a weather station in Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands recorded 9cm of snow yesterday, while Dyce in Aberdeenshire had 6cm, Aviemore in Invernesshire 5cm, Lake Vyrnwy in Powys, Wales, 4cm, Boulmer in Northumberland 3cm and Bodmin in Cornwall 2cm.
Elsewhere, Irish forecaster Met Eireann has warned of widespread frost and icy stretches for several counties south of the border, creating hazardous travelling conditions and animal welfare issues.
It said temperatures could fall to a minimum of minus 3C for counties Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wicklow and Tipperary.
A status yellow low-temperature warning has been issued for those 10 counties from 11pm yesterday until 8am today.