Northern Ireland

First snowfall of winter hits Glenshane Pass

A snow blizzard moves across fields below the Glenshane Pass in Co Derry on Friday afternoon. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
A snow blizzard moves across fields below the Glenshane Pass in Co Derry on Friday afternoon. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin A snow blizzard moves across fields below the Glenshane Pass in Co Derry on Friday afternoon. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
By Jennifer Maloney and Press Association

BABY it's cold outside and now snow has even started to fall in Derry.

Northern Ireland has experienced the first real chill of winter as temperatures plummeted on Friday.

The Glenshane Pass saw its first snowfall with flurries of snow impacting on drivers and livestock in the area.

Temperatures plunged to three degrees in Derry and Belfast while it was a chilly one degree on Glenshane.

Meanwhile, with snow falling in northern parts of the UK, temperatures set to plummet below freezing and gales of 70mph, weather forecasters have issued a stark warning that winter is coming.

High ground in Snowdonia, the Peak District, the Pennines and Scotland were coated in snow on Friday as icy Arctic winds brought cold weather to northern Britain.

Up to four inches (10cm) is expected to fall overnight, and temperatures will fall to minus 3C on Saturday night.

The cold snap is a marked contrast to the recent mild weather which led to it being the second mildest start to November on record, and the Met Office has issued weather warnings for snow or wind for most of the UK until Saturday evening.

Sean Penston, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said: "It is the first significant cold spell in the south this year."