Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Thrills.. & chills
ARCTIC BLAST TO BRING BLIZZARDS & FLOODING
AS usual Mirror readers were first to know as Northern Ireland woke to blanket of snow yesterday.
As we predicted heavy flurries across many parts of Northern Ireland led to some school closures and travel disruption while snow and ice warnings remain in place for today and tomorrow.
Several flights into and out of Belfast were either delayed or cancelled due to the weather.
Belfast City Airport apologised to travellers when a de-icing machine broke down, leading to flight delays.
A number of irate passengers took to social media to complain about being left on the runway for several hours because of the icy conditions. One traveller, @-aislingbell, Tweeted: “Absolutely shambles @ BELFASTCITY-AIR airport this morning, been sat on a plane for over more than two hours with three children under 5, ONE de-icing machine available for whole airport”.
@T0MPB wrote: “@ BELFASTCITY-AIR you really need to sort your de-icing machines out.” An airport spokesman said the de-icing issues experienced were down to the airline-appointed ground handling agent.
Services were also delayed at Belfast International Airport. A spokesman said its snow clearance teams have been operating gritters, de-icing sprayers, snow ploughs and sweepers to keep the main runway and taxiways operational. The airlines’ ground handling contractor has also been de-icing aircraft prior to departure.
BIA spokesman Alan Whiteside said everything was being done to keep any disruption to the barest minimum.
He added: “We pay lot of attention to Met Office forecasts and what the experts are saying is ‘be prepared’.
“We are prepared with our fleet of vehicles which are capable of tackling tough conditions.
“Our teams will remain on stand-by throughout today and tonight, and until the worst of this present spell of awful weather is past.”
Passengers have been advised to leave plenty of time for their journey to the airport due to slow moving traffic and
wintry road conditions. A yellow weather warning is in place for the region until 6pm today.
The Met Office said snow showers will continue to affect parts of the region and flurries of 10cm to 20cm is possible.
Icy surfaces are also likely to be an additional hazard, especially overnight.
In the Republic, Met Eireann has issued a Status Orange snow and ice alert for 17 counties over the weekend.
The 24-hour warning, which comes into effect at 11pm on Saturday, covers all of Connacht and counties Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Wicklow, Offaly, Westmeath and Meath.
Gardai in Mayo, Cavan and Westmeath warned motorists of treacherous conditions in some areas.
Belfast Zoo was forced to close because of the snow, and the weekend’s Wildlife Wonderland event was cancelled.
Manager Alyn Cairns said most of the animals are used to the seasonal nature of our weather but those who need it have access to centrally heated indoor housing.