Travel & Travel: Snow and ice warning for Northern Ireland issued by Met Office
The Met Office have issued two overnight weather warnings
The warning for ice starts at midnight, Friday, and runs through until 11am on Saturday.
A second warning for snow and ice starts at 5pm today lasing and expires at 11am Saturday.
The Met Office forecasts icy patches and some hill snow on Friday night and on Saturday morning.
Clear spells on Friday evening and overnight will allow temperatures to quickly fall below freezing, leading to the development of icy stretches, especially on untreated surfaces.
A scattering of wintry showers are also expected, these falling as snow over hills above 200 m, where further small accumulations of 1 to 3 cm are possible in a few places.
How UK weather warnings work
Warnings are issued for rain, thunderstorms, wind, snow, lightning, ice, extreme heat and fog.
These warnings are given a colour depending on a combination of both the impact of the weather may have and the likelihood of those impacts occurring.
Yellow - Possible
Yellow warnings can be issued for a range of weather situations.
Many are issued when it is likely that the weather will cause some low level impacts, including some disruption to travel in a few places.
Many people may be able to continue with their daily routine, but there will be some that will be directly impacted and so it is important to assess if you could be affected.
Other yellow warnings are issued when the weather could bring much more severe impacts to the majority of people but the certainty of those impacts occurring is much lower. It is important to read the content of yellow warnings to determine which weather situation is being covered by the yellow warning.
Amber - Likely
There is an increased likelihood of impacts from severe weather, which could potentially disrupt your plans.
This means there is the possibility of travel delays, road and rail closures, power cuts and the potential risk to life and property.
You should think about changing your plans and taking action to protect yourself and your property. You may want to consider the impact of the weather on your family and your community and whether there is anything you need to do ahead of the severe weather to minimise the impact.
Red - Expected
Dangerous weather is expected and, if you haven’t already done so, you should take action now to keep yourself and others safe from the impact of the severe weather.
It is very likely that there will be a risk to life, with substantial disruption to travel, energy supplies and possibly widespread damage to property and infrastructure.
You should avoid travelling, where possible, and follow the advice of the emergency services and local authorities.