Weather: Temperatures dipped to -6 °C last night - drivers asked to be 'think carefully about the need to travel' with Industrial action halting Thursday morning gritting actions being undertaken

A statement, issued last night by the Department for Infrastructure, said: “With winter gritting service severely impacted, road users are being asked to think carefully about the need to travel.

"Road users are advised to exercise caution when travelling, particularly when driving on untreated roads”.

Their statement added that temperatures were ‘forecast to fall below freezing and there is a risk of snow and ice on roads’.

They added that ‘salting of roads on the scheduled network was undertaken Wednesday evening prior to further on-going industrial action taking place with no Thursday morning gritting actions being undertaken’.

According to the Met Office. Northern Ireland will see ‘snow showers, mainly in north, and sunny spells’ today.

They add: ‘Another cold day (Thursday) with sunny spells and snow showers, most frequent in the north.

‘Best of the sunshine in the south, but fog patches may be slow to clear. Northwesterly breeze. Maximum temperature 1 °C’.

And tonight ‘a few showers will continue in the far north but otherwise it will be largely dry and clear,’ add the Met Office.

They add that ‘this will lead to extensive fog forming overnight’ and another ‘minimum temperature of -6 °C’.

Meanwhile tomorrow (Friday) the forecasters say that ‘early fog will clear with increasing southwesterly winds, then largely dry and sunny for much of the day’.

They add the skies will be ‘clouding over later in the afternoon’ with a maximum temperature of 4 °C.

This morning it was reported by @TrafficwatchNI that ‘the traffic signals at Finaghy crossroads are operational again’ but ‘the pedestrian crossing point between Finaghy Rd South and North remains out’.

This came after several people were involved in a road traffic collision between a Translink double decker bus and a Fire Service vehicle en route to an emergency on January 16.

A Northern Ireland Fire Service spokesman said: “At 22.05hrs on Tuesday 16th January a fire appliance from Cadogan fire station was involved in a road traffic collision with a Translink double decker bus on the Upper Lisburn Road whilst en route to an incident.

“A number of NIFRS personnel and the driver of the bus were treated at the scene by NIAS (Northern Ireland Ambulance Service) for non-life threatening injuries and a number were taken to hospital.

“All personnel involved are receiving the necessary medical attention and sufficient resources remain available to attend any other incidents.”

A PSNI statement said they received a report of a road traffic collision involving a bus and fire engine at the junction of Finaghy crossroads and the Upper Lisburn Road shortly after 10pm on Tuesday evening, 16th January.They said officers attended, alongside colleagues from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.

They added that two men were taken to hospital for treatment to their injuries, which are not believed to be life-threatening.

And the road, which was closed for a time, has since reopened to all traffic in the area.

Police thanked the public for their patience whilst this closure was in place.

The PSNI statement added that ‘minor injuries were reported by others involved in the collision, and medical treatment was provided at the scene’.

Enquiries remain ongoing and anyone who witnessed the collision or captured what happened on dash-cam or CCTV footage is asked to contact police on 101, quoting reference 1874 16/01/24.

Earlier the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) warned of disruption to many services it provides ahead of the day of industrial action on Thursday 18 January 2024.

In a statement they said that ‘industrial action will cause disruption to our winter gritting service’ and ‘we would advise people to avoid travel, if possible, on Thursday, 18 January 2024’.

‘Where people need to travel, drivers and other road users will need to take particular care on Thursday and Friday given the potential for icy conditions and ongoing disruption to gritting,’ adds the statement.

‘Where possible, contingency plans are being put in place, but it is expected that there will be widespread disruption on Thursday, which will affect the following services:

Winter service – gritting of the road network;

Repair of serious infrastructure defects such as manhole collapse or potholes;

Prioritisation of assistance to those incidents with most impact to life and property;

Response and clear-up operation when there are incidents on the road such as oil spills or unexpected debris;

Drainage infrastructure clearing and cleansing;

MOT services and driving tests;

Strangford Ferry services;

Significantly reduce our capacity to respond to flood emergencies;

Significant delays in responding to calls to the flood incident line’.

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The statement adds: ‘We will not know the precise number of staff available until the days of strike action which means it could be Thursday morning before the full impact will be known and understood.

‘The Department will, however, only be able to deliver a fraction of its normal gritting service’.