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Heavy snow on its way as Met Office warns of threat to rural communities

Department of infrastructure say they are prepared with 90,000 tonnes of salt

Heavy snowfall is set to hit Armagh in the small hours of Friday morning.

The Met Office has even extended a weather warning for snow and ice and not only will conditions be treacherous on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday will see further dumps of snow.

The last number of ice warnings have caused chaos across the county with a school bus in rural south Armagh leaving the road, injuring the driver – its sole occupant at the time.

A spokesperson for the Met Office said: “A spell of heavy snow is possible over some central parts of the UK during Sunday.

“This could lead to road, rail and air travel delays, with the potential for vehicles to become stranded or public transport to be cancelled.

“Rural communities with limited access routes could become cut off.”

The Met Office’s Chief Forecaster added: “During winter weather which brings snow showers, it is not uncommon for snow amounts to vary considerably across short distances.

“On Friday and Saturday, the snow showers could lead to snow accumulations which vary markedly across the warning area. Strong northwest winds may cause drifting of the snow in places with blizzard conditions possible across northern Scotland.”

However, the Department of Infrastructure say they are on standby with 300 staff poised with 130 gritters and 90,000 tonnes of salt available to treat main roads in a bid to keep traffic moving safely and freely tomorrow, through the weekend.

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