Road users are being urged to take care on Sunday, after obstructions caused by Storm Éowyn continue to impact the road network, and an ice and snow warning remains in place until 10am.
While clear-up operations continue on Sunday, there were over 2,300 obstructions on roads across the north in the aftermath of Friday’s storm, as winds of over 90mph brought down trees, power lines and other debris.
Remaining obstructions may have impacted overnight salting operations on some roads and the Department of Infrastructure is advising road users to take care.
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“A Met Office yellow warning for snow and ice is still in place until 10am,” a spokesperson said.
“The Department’s winter service teams were out overnight salting affect roads. However, some roads on our normal scheduled network may remain untreated as we continue to deal with the impacts from Storm Éowyn.
“If travelling, please plan your journey carefully, stick to main roads as much as possible, exercise extreme caution and be mindful of changing conditions as roads which are normally salted might not be.”
On Saturday, Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd thanked department staff for their ongoing recovery efforts.
“Our staff and contractors have been working around the clock, with the strategic network now open to traffic, but that does not tell the whole story,” the minister said.
“The work involved in opening just one road can take many hours. For example, 70 trees had to be cleared yesterday to re-open the M2.
“Our teams have also been assisting the health services to clear debris on routes into hospital sites as well as working with NIE Networks and NI Water to gain access to their critical infrastructure.”
Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck announced on Saturday afternoon that while disruption from the storm remains significant, the immediate risk to life has been reduced and officers will return to normal operations.
“Our officers have begun to return to routine operational policing but we will continue to support partner agencies as they clear debris, work to make roads safe and restore power to homes.
“I urge all road users to exercise due care and attention when driving as many roads across Northern Ireland are still currently impassable, with fallen trees, power lines and debris.
The Department for Infrastructure (DfI), which has taken over responsibility of recovery operations, said that additional weather warnings for ice and snow and more wind would put resources “under extreme pressure”.
Overnight ice and snow warning resulted in treacherous conditions on some roads on Saturday morning, and police advised drivers to continue to exercise caution throughout Saturday and into Sunday.
