Freezing weather: More mass school closures - nine due to lack of heating - as forecasters predict new snowstorm will miss Northern Ireland
Today brought another shutdown of much of the school system in Northern Ireland as some schools were left with no heat, whilst questions were raised about the government’s handling of road gritting.
Some 207 schools shut their doors as a result of the weather on Tuesday, amounting to 18.8% of all schools in the Province.
That is the same number that were closed on Monday.
At least nine of the schools which closed today did so because they had “no heating”, according to the government's NIDirect webpage, with two more – Magherafelt Primary School and Royal School Armagh – due to close tomorrow due to no heating (as of time of writing tonight).
A Met Office yellow weather warning for ice remains in force across Northern Ireland until 11am tomorrow, signalling risk of “some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces” and “icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths”.
In the face of complaints from politicians about ungritted roads, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said that it deploys its gritters to roads which serve “80% of road users”.
Meanwhile, a Met Office forecaster has told the News Letter that a storm which was threatening to sweep over the Province later this week, bringing a fresh balnket of snow, is now set to avoid the country.
A day earlier, Liam Eslick had warned that a low-pressure system driving in from the Atlantic and arriving on Friday could bring “quite a bit” of snow to the northern parts of the British Isles.
Now he says: “The trackers show it’s a little bit further south.
"It has been named by the French meteorological service: Storm Goretti.
"The French are going to see most of the impact, and much of the impact there is across the UK is going to be in the south-west and Wales.
"We may get the odd flurry... it’s still going to have a wintry feel to it.”
Tomorrow is likely to be largely cold but dry, as is Thursday.
Much of the snow had melted as of 4pm today, with the maximum depth of lying snow at that time being 3cm in Castlederg (down from 9cm at the same location a day earlier).
However, for many places, it was ice and not snow causing the greatest headaches.
Temperatures overnight from Monday to Tuesday reached a low of minus 5.4C in Katesbridge, Co Down, with the second lowest reading being minus 1.8C in Killylane, Co Antrim.
‘WHAT WENT WRONG WITH GRIT?’
UUP North Antrim MLA Jon Burrows said he has asked a series of written questions of the transport minister Liz Kimmins in the Assembly about gritting, such as what measures have been taken to replenish stocks.
"With reports of roads left untreated, concerns about whether gritting depends on overtime being available, and serious questions around grit supplies, the public deserve clear, honest answers,” he said.
"Too often, the response from the Sinn Fein infrastructure minister is to look elsewhere when things go wrong.
"But these are devolved responsibilities, and winter service planning is firmly within her department’s control.
"Cold weather is not unexpected. Proper preparation matters - and so does accountability.
"Public safety must come before excuses, and we’ll keep pressing the Minister to explain what’s gone wrong and how it’s being fixed.”
Meanwhile, DUP Ballymoney councillor John McAuley said: "Once again, Ballymoney finds itself treated as the poor neighbour in the Department for Infrastructure winter gritting schedule, and frankly, residents are fed up.
"The difference in both the quality and frequency of gritting between Coleraine and Ballymoney is stark.
"Anyone travelling between the two areas over the past days can see it clearly on the ground.
"While DfI will no doubt deny any disparity, the evidence is there for residents, commuters and businesses to experience first-hand every time adverse weather hits.
"This situation has been repeatedly highlighted, yet little has changed.”
A DfI spokesperson said: “The Department delivers a winter service programme which endeavours to mitigate, as far as is reasonably possible, the effects of adverse winter weather.
"At times of ice and snow we deploy around 300 staff and a fleet of 130 gritters - working round the clock when needed - to salt around 7,000 km of the main road network.
"As part of the winter service, the department salts the main through routes which carry more than 1,500 vehicles per day.
"In exceptional circumstances, roads with difficult topography carrying between 1,000 and 1,500 vehicles daily will also be salted.
"This means that 28% of the road network will be salted, directly benefiting around 80% of road users.
The current schedule of roads that are treated has been in place for a number of years and has not changed.
"All routes that were previously salted continue to be treated regardless of any changes to depot operations.
"Roads on the salted network were treated on multiple occasions in recent days, including the Ballymoney area.
"There has been no discrepancy in the service provided in the Ballymoney area.”
It added: “The department has offered a full winter service in recent days and including over the Christmas period with staff out gritting the roads on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day...
"Since the weather warning for snow and ice all roads on the salted network have been treated multiple times with staff working tirelessly day and night in some very difficult conditions, to help keep traffic moving.
"As this cold spell continues, we will continue to ensure that our main roads are salted and safe for the travelling public.”