Northern Ireland Storm Bert: Province wakens up to warnings for snow, rain and winds of over 70mph.

It follows a significant fall of snow across the Province which left police cautioning drivers to slow down yesterday morning.

The Met Office says Storm Bert is set to bring a “multi-hazard event” across much of the UK today following the cold snap.

The forecaster gave Northern Ireland a Yellow Warning for snow and then rain, valid from midnight until 11am today (Saturday).

Bert is then expected to batter NI with winds exceeding 70mph in some places from 5am to 7pm across the Province today.

Both warnings apply across all of Northern Ireland.

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said Storm Bert was a “multi-hazard event”.

He told the News Letter: “Storm Bert will arrive into western Northern Ireland at around midnight [Friday], with strengthening winds and snow turning to rain as previously mentioned. The low pressure that is Storm Bert will move away to the north east of the UK through Monday.

"Bert will bring in milder air hence there will be a lack of frost and ice in Northern Ireland. However as the precipitation meets the cooler air it could fall as snow for a time in the morning before turning to rain. Any accumulations will therefore be temporary but could cause some disruption through the early morning.”

He added: “We’re looking at strong winds, some high snowfall accumulation, heavy rain, all in various different parts of the UK,”

“So it’s quite a complex weather set-up for the weekend. Generally speaking, it’s a very unsettled weekend of weather ahead.”

He said Katesbridge had seen the lowest temperature this week in Northern Ireland, with -4.8C on Wednesday night.

In Northern Ireland, Bert is expected to cause some disruption to roads, rail and bus transport.

There may also be some flooding of roads, homes and businesses and disruption to power supplies.

The forecaster said Northern Ireland should expect outbreaks of rain on Friday night and into Saturday morning, "which may be preceded by a spell of snow for a time, especially on high ground in northern and western areas".

"Exactly where snow falls will depend quite heavily on both elevation and the intensity of precipitation, with any snow accumulations at low levels likely small and fairly short-lived.

"However, there is the chance of temporary accumulations of 5-10 cm on ground typically above 150m and perhaps as much as 10-20 cm over mountain tops.

"Any snow will quickly revert to rain on Saturday morning, with rain accumulations of 20-30 mm likely fairly widely, and perhaps as much as 40-60 mph on more exposed hills.”

It said that a period of strong southeasterly winds is likely for NI on Saturday, with peak gusts of 50-60 mph in many parts, but 60-70 mph in some coastal areas and also locally to the northwest of high ground.

It added that winds may be "in excess of 70 mph along some exposed coasts of Northern Ireland and western Scotland".

An amber alert for heavy snow and ice will be in force between 7am and 5pm on Saturday in an area north of Scotland’s central belt. Yellow wind, rain and snow warnings cover much of the rest of the UK.