DRIVING conditions this morning are described as “treacherous” all over the Isle of Man after the first serious snowfall of the winter hit the Island overnight. More snow is forecast over the weekend.
Snow which fell in sub zero temperatures last night froze hard in the early hours to leave a dangerous sheet of ice on most of the Island’s roads this morning, making driving conditions extremely difficult. Long delays were experienced on the main roads into Douglas from both Castletown and Peel.
The Mountain Road was closed at 6am and will remain so until at least 4pm. Many routes with steep hills proved impossible to pass. A number of minor collisions were reported all over the Island and the Department of Infrastructure’s highways staff are in action on the busiest roads with gritters working at full stretch. They have been gritting roads since 1am.
Traffic is moving very slowly all over the Island, particularly during the morning rush hour in Douglas where ice covered all routes. Police advised that motorists should only use their vehicles where “absolutely necessary”.
Many parents chose not to use their cars this morning and hundreds of children have enjoyed a surprise day off. School buses appear to have been running as usual and all schools remain open. Some routes in the Douglas area were halted earlier this morning for safety reasons but are expected to resume later today.
The emergency services joint control room have issued a warning to motorists that the roads in Ballamodha, Santon, from Castletown to Ballakaighan, Willaston, Onchan, Richmond Hill and Johnny Watterson's lane are particularly bad.
The official Met office forecast at 10am today was: “Mostly dry for the rest of this morning with bright spells, some sunshine and only isolated wintry showers, but a few more showers may develop during this afternoon. Temperatures starting off between 2 and 4 C around the coast but close to freezing inland and over the hills; rising to around 5C / 41F at best.”
There is also the strong likelihood of similar conditions tomorrow. The Met Office says the weekend will stay cold with some overnight frosts, often fresh east to northeast winds but also a few snow and hail showers. However, there is expected to be plenty of bright weather with sunny intervals.
