Hi °C | Lo °C Northern Ireland has escaped the blizzards unscathed – but forecasters are warning us not to put away our shovels just yet as more snow is predicted for later this week.
As England ground to a standstill, blanketed under the heaviest snow in 18 years, Northern Ireland woke this morning to rain and sleet, along with just a couple of inches of snow on higher ground.
Travellers faced some difficulties as a few flights were delayed, particularly those to Leeds Bradford and Southampton. However, Belfast City Airport stressed that its Heathrow service was still running and advised passengers to check the arrivals and departures page on its website for up-to-date |information.
Meanwhile, Translink warned of major delays on all rail services due to radio communication problems including the Enterprise Service to Dublin.
Passengers were advised to turn up and wait.
Translink said: “Due to radio communication problems, rail services are affected across the network. Translink are working to fix the problem. We remind passengers that they can use rail tickets on bus services. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
Dublin Airport reopened its runway after it was closed for a time yesterday so that snow could be cleared.
Forecaster Matt Dobson of Meteogroup said the cold air expected had been pushed aside by warmer air and in Belfast this had made it to ground level more quickly.
“The snow fall moved in from the east during the evening. There was snow mainly over higher ground but a few wet flakes lower down as well. It was a band of rain, sleet and snow coming in from the east,” he said.
But he warned people not to put away their shovels just yet. There is still a chance of snow over higher ground in counties Down and Armagh tonight and temperatures are expected to plummet later in the week.
“As we head into Thursday and Friday it will be much colder air coming straight from the Arctic making it feel really cold,” he said. “I think there’ll be a band of snow going through late on Wednesday night and during Thursday certainly there will be some scattered snow showers falling to sea level.”
