More snow forecast for Northern Ireland

Parts of the Province woke up to a blanket of snow today with more scattered showers of sleet and snow expected throughout the day and into the evening, particularly in the north and east.

Temperatures reached zero and northerly winds have done little to help the folk of Ulster keep warm.

It couldn’t be more of a constrast to the same time last year, less than month into lockdown when the Province was bathing in Spring sunshine.

The weather is set to improve slightly, but another cold front is on the way at the end of the week.

The Met Office said tomorrow will be less cold with sunny spells and a few isolated wintry showers, mostly confined to coastal areas.

Cloud is expected to thicken later in the day, bringing rain and some snow in the evening. The maximum temperature is forecast at eight degrees Celcius.

Thursday will get off to a dry start but some rain is expected later and winds will strengthen again.

The outlook for Friday and Saturday is to get colder with wintry showers.

Looking to next week, the Met Office said the forecast for the British Isles is “looking very cold and wintry, especially for northern areas”.

Northern Ireland has largely escaped the worst of the wintry weather affecting other UK regions.

Elsewhere in the UK temperatures plummeted as low as minus 4.1C (24.4F) overnight with some parts hit by up to 11cm (4.3in) of snow.

Widespread frost and sub-zero conditions across Scotland, England and Wales led to a cold start yesterday.

The mercury plunged to minus 4.2C in Eskdalemuir, Dumfries and Galloway, while a low of minus 4.1C was recorded at Winchcombe Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire.

A Met Office yellow warning for snow is in place for northern Scotland from 7pm to 10am tomorrow, while a separate yellow warning for wind in Shetland runs to 7pm today, with strong northerly gusts expected.

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said the pattern of wintry showers will continue in northern Scotland and the west coast, with the possibility they could brush the east of the country as well as England.

Mr Claydon said conditions would then get milder before another cold front moves across the United Kingdom “bringing another pool of Arctic air through Friday and into the weekend”.

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