NI weather: First white Christmas recorded since 2017
Joseph CullenA white Christmas has been officially declared for Northern Ireland after sleet fell in counties Londonderry and Armagh.
The weather station at Lough Fea recorded the wintry weather at about 17:00 GMT on Christmas Day, according to the Met Office.
Glenanne in County Armagh later recorded heavy sleet at about 19:00.
The last official white Christmas recording was at Lough Navar Forest, County Fermanagh, in 2017.
Just a single flake of sleet or snow has to be recorded at least one of the official Met Office sites in order for a white Christmas to be declared.
Wintry weather was also witnessed in other areas.
The Met Office stations which are used for judging a white Christmas are:
- Castlederg, County Tyrone
- Thomastown, County Fermanagh
- Magilligan, County Londonderry
- Lough Fea, County Londonderry
- Glenanne, County Armagh
- Belfast International, County Antrim
- Portglenone, County Antrim
- Ballypatrick Forest, County Antrim
In the Republic of Ireland, there was no official white Christmas despite video and photos of snow on social media from the public.
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The country's weather service, Met Éireann, uses the weather station at Dublin Airport as the official site to record sleet or snow and declare a white Christmas.
This station did not record any on 25 December, but a Met Éireann station at Casement in Dublin did record sleet.
