Weather: Snow and ice shuts schools for a second day

Police said driving conditions remain hazardous with a weather warning in place until noon on Thursday

Dozens of schools in Northern Ireland are closed as snow and icy conditions hit Northern Ireland for a second day.

Most of the affected schools are in the north west, including primary and secondary schools in Londonderry, Limavady and Strabane.

Police said driving conditions remain hazardous across Northern Ireland due to the snow and freezing temperatures.

A yellow weather warning for snow and ice has been extended until noon on Thursday.

Translink are advising passengers to expect some disruption to services across Northern Ireland.

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Early morning bus services in Derry, Coleraine, Belfast, Dungannon, Castlewellan, Larne and Antrim are among those affected. There is no major disruption to train services, Translink added.

It has urged commuters to check for updates online.

Translink also said the entrance to a park and ride in Newry, County Down, is restricted after an overhead barrier was damaged in a crash.

Derry City and Strabane District Council said it also anticipates some disruption to its services on Wednesday.

With the weather warning continuing until Thursday, showers of rain and hail are expected around the coast on Wednesday, with sleet and snow mainly inland.

The Met Office is warning that a further 2-5cm of snow could fall over some higher ground, but ice is expected to be the main hazard with temperatures on Wednesday night falling below freezing in many areas.

Inundated with complaints

Raymond Barr, an independent councillor on Derry City and Strabane District Council, told BBC Radio Foyle driving had been challenging early on Wednesday.

He made the journey to Strabane on the main Derry road before 07:00 GMT.

"It is passable but dangerous in parts, but secondary roads are treacherous."

Residents in Broughshane, County Antrim, woke to snow on Wednesday morning

Mr Barr said he had been inundated with complaints from people in the north west about the lack of gritting on the roads network

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said salting had been carried out across the "entire scheduled network" on Tuesday evening and again overnight in the early hours of Wednesday.

Roads Service engineer Peter McParland told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme it had been another "very busy night" for its winter service teams.

He said "many of the drivers have been facing heavy snow showers along their routes".

"They have been working in shifts almost continually over the past couple of days, in many areas to try and keep the main road network open and passable, but it is fair to say that the situation does remain difficult, and the road temperatures are currently below freezing almost everywhere."

There's been heavy snow near Slemish Mountain in County Antrim

He said despite the service's best efforts "you can't guarantee that roads are free of snow and ice at all times".

Anyone that has to travel on Wednesday, he said, should "leave lots of extra time for their journey and drive with extreme care".

He said drivers should be "extremely cautious" on the rural road network that has not been treated.

"Snow may be heaviest in the north, but right down to the south of the province and to the west, it is still very icy anyway, so please everyone take extra care if you have to travel," he said.

'Cars abandoned'

Louise Coyle, from the Northern Ireland Rural Women's Network, lives outside Cookstown, County Tyrone - she said it was a "winter wonderland" to look at on Wednesday morning, but that the road conditions on Tuesday had been "absolutely treacherous".

"It's very clear that it has been a while since we have all had to think about how we drive when it is snowy and there were a lot of cars being abandoned - there was one particular hill I had to drive up and the four cars in front of me did not get up that hill and had to leave their cars and vans."