Freezing temperatures and snow storms

Northern Ireland has recorded its coldest night of this winter, with a very frosty start to New Year’s Eve.

In Katesbridge, County Down temperatures as low as minus 7C were recorded.

Even colder temperatures are en route for the first few days of 2026.

It is expected that parts of Northern Ireland will see snow by the start of next week.

No weather warnings have come into place as of yet, but are likely to be issued in the coming days.

The dry, chilly spell of weather continues during daylight hours.

For those out and about on New Year’s Eve night, patchy rain is to be expected at midnight across much of Northern Ireland and during the early hours with a freshening north-westerly wind.

New Year’s Day, on Thursday, will not be as frosty and it should be a bright, breezy start to 2026, with some scattered showers falling.

Arctic air will move south on Thursday night and Friday will be much colder with some sunshine but scattered sleet and snow showers have been forecasted.

Temperatures will be bitter as a strong northerly wind will gust in coastal areas.

Daytime temperatures will drop below average and there will be a significant wind chill.

Snow showers will be most frequent in Counties Antrim, Londonderry and Tyrone.

By the end of Friday there may be a couple of centimetres of snow at lower levels including parts of Belfast with over 5cm on the hills further north in County Antrim.

This period of wintry weather will continue into the weekend and possibly the early part of next week.

By Monday morning, forecasts suggest over 15cm of snow on the higher ground around the Sperrin Mountains and 2cm-5cm on lower ground.

Parts of Counties Down, Armagh and Fermanagh will see little if any snow, with ice acting as an additional hazard.