Cold weather payments extended to Castlederg and Thomastown areas

There was a wintry sunrise in Enniskillen as the cold snap continued

Cold weather payments have been extended to more areas in Northern Ireland as the cold snap continues.

The £25 payment is made to people living in areas where the average temperature is recorded or forecast to be 0C or below for seven consecutive days.

It will be made to people living in 11 postcodes within the Castlederg and Thomastown weather station areas.

The payments were already trigged in the Katesbridge area on Saturday.

Icy conditions were also prevalent at Dungannon Park in County Tyrone

Payments are made automatically and people living in these areas do not need to do anything to claim the money.

They will be paid to people in the following postcodes:

• BT78

• BT79

• BT81

• BT82

• BT74

• BT75

• BT76

• BT77

• BT92

• BT93

• BT94

People living in the postcode areas - which cover Castlederg in County Tyrone and Thomastown in County Fermanagh - can expect to receive the money by 21 December.

It comes as temperatures overnight on Monday fell to -9°C in Castlederg.

Freezing conditions are set to last until at least the beginning of the weekend before milder air is forecast to move in.

Warm welcomes

Many of Northern Ireland's councils have set up dedicated web pages as one-stop-shops for information on their own services and those run by different organisations in the borough.

They serve as a directory of timetables and contact details on a range of cost-of-living issues, such as food banks, warm spaces and financial support.

• Antrim and Newtownabbey

• Ards and North Down

• Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon

• Belfast City Council

• Causeway Coast and Glens

• Fermanagh and Omagh

• Mid and East Antrim

A Met Office yellow weather warning for ice remains in force for County Antrim, County Down and County Londonderry until 12:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Health alerts have also been sent to residents in some parts of counties Tyrone and Londonderry due to continued high levels of air pollution.

In a scale of 1-10, with 10 being very high levels of pollution, Strabane is at level nine with the Rosemount area of Derry at level eight.

According to guidance, those with lung problems and adults with heart problems should reduce strenuous physical exertion, particularly outdoors.

In the Republic of Ireland, an orange warning, the second highest level of alert, has been issued for Wednesday night.

Met Éireann is expecting widespread temperatures of -5C or below, leading to severe ice or frost.

The warning has been issued from 18:00 on Wednesday until noon on Thursday.

A yellow warning for low temperatures and ice remains in place across the Republic until noon on Friday.

Foggy conditions in Dromore, County Down

On Monday, Northern Ireland recorded its coldest night of the year as temperatures in Katesbridge, County Down, fell to -9C in the early hours of the morning.

Passengers from Northern Ireland were among those affected by flight cancellations and delays at airports in Great Britain due to the weather.

Eleven flights at Belfast City Airport had been cancelled by 13:30 on Monday after snow at other airports.